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The scene fell into a temporary, heavy silence. Even the Hunt, Lan, merely kept the bow drawn, the nocked arrow of light pointing toward the Abundance, but it was never truly released. It was unclear whether the Aeons were contemplating how to handle the situation or simply waiting to see who would strike first.
The cluster of radiance that was in the process of ascension—and which, logically, should have already become an Aeon—had ground to a halt. It neither continued its ascent nor descended. It was as if it were forcibly stuck midway through the path to divinity.
This made the entire scene feel exceptionally bizarre.
To be honest, 'Ruan Mei' had just been looking at the sky full of "gods and buddhas," genuinely terrified that if she blinked, the Amber Lord would swing his hammer down. But now, she was even more confused. It wasn't just her; even Herta and the original Ruan Mei couldn't guess what these Aeons were thinking.
If they didn't intend to surrender the concepts of their respective Paths, why hadn't they directly destroyed this Aeon-fetus? Or, if ignoring it meant it could never ascend, why were they still staring at it?
'Ruan Mei' didn't understand. But that was natural.
Only Aha, the Elation, saw and heard the full picture. He knew what the Aeons were thinking; He had even secretly captured the ripples of the Nous's calculations and the thoughts of the Preservation. These exchanges, understandable only between Aeons, were completed in an instant.
Aha even felt that the mysterious Terminus had somehow played a part. Regardless, except for the Hunt being eager to put an arrow through the Abundance, they reached a consensus.
Immediately, the ripples of the Nous's thoughts descended plainly upon Herta City. Following a powerful surge of Imaginary Energy, a signal that no one could decrypt was sent into the stalled Light Lifeform. It was a question. As for what the question was, likely no one but the Nous and the Light Lifeform would ever know.
Then, the Abundance let fall a single golden leaf, and the Hunt dropped three arrows of light. These also merged into the body of the Light Lifeform. After that, these two Aeons left the stage.
'Ruan Mei' only caught a glimpse of the Hunt drawing the bow—an arrow of light streaked toward the Abundance, and then both were gone.
Fuli bestowed a fragment of a multi-colored, translucent crystal; the Harmony lowered a stanza of melody... Every Aeon seemed to give a little something. They all merged into that warm glow.
Finally, the Amber Lord's great hammer manifested in mid-air. Then, it slammed down toward Herta City!
Boom—!!!
A surge of Imaginary Energy ripples, carrying the momentum of crushing an entire star system into powder, converged toward the Light Lifeform. Yet, an amber glow lit up the moment everything was about to be destroyed.
'Ruan Mei' felt a suffocating tide of Imaginary Energy roll over her. it was like being plunged defenseless into the depths of a twenty-thousand-meter ocean. The pressure alone was enough to kill her instantly.
But the Preservation's power protected the bodies of the three women, allowing 'Ruan Mei' to see the result: the infinite Imaginary Energy had transformed into a crystal-clear amber casing, protecting the Light Lifeform within.
Whether it was protection or a seal was unknown. Having done this, the Amber Lord left without looking back.
At the very end, only Aha's laughter continued to echo in the sky. His mask descended before them, circling 'Ruan Mei's' body twice. Then, He giggled and told a joke to the Light Lifeform.
As for why 'Ruan Mei' felt it was a joke despite not understanding it... one would have to ask Aha why she couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud when she hadn't understood a single word.
With Aha finally vanishing, Herta City finally welcomed peace. Though the losses within the city were immeasurable, Herta's own eyes were burning with a fervor that suggested she wanted to devour someone.
Just then— Vwoom—
Yet another Aeon cast a gaze from the distant starry sky.
"Aha~"
Along with Aha's laughter, Nanook of Destruction appeared before the three.
Since the new Path did not involve Destruction, Nanook shouldn't have been able to sense much. Furthermore, since the new Aeon failed to ascend, it should have been even harder for Him to capture the situation.
However! Aha had acted. He simply wanted to see what Nanook would think when the little thing He had just rewarded turned around and cooked up something like this. So, He had specifically gone to harass Nanook and pull His gaze over.
The result was obvious. Nanook's attention was truly drawn to the little one. Aha felt satisfied. He was ecstatic. He even felt like rewarding her with a mask—lest she actually be slapped to death by Nanook, which would mean He'd never find such an interesting source of fun again.
Though, a joke of this magnitude likely wouldn't be seen a second time.
Nanook looked at the Giants of Light and the Aeon-larva protected by the Amber Lord. He also saw the little one who had spent some time impersonating Star-shatterer. From an Aeon's perspective, He quickly understood certain facts.
If things continued this way, His Gang Lords would likely clash with the Giants of Light quite frequently.
That said, Nanook glanced at the fun-seeking Aha. If Aha thought He would strike them, He was dead wrong. He simply looked down at 'Ruan Mei'.
This little thing who had accepted His blessing, eliminated Zhurong, and then put on another face. Nanook actually didn't have much of a reaction. A brand-new Path was indeed troublesome, but its birth would have to be built on the foundation of the other Aeons passing away. If He could destroy the other Aeons, then destroying one more wouldn't matter.
As for the lives on this Path... they were almost too beautiful, to the point of being out of place in this world. He was confident that there would surely be individuals among them who would want to cast themselves into Destruction.
As for his legions gaining another obstacle—He cared even less. His legions never lacked enemies.
So, Nanook simply looked down at 'Ruan Mei' for a long while. When Aha's laughter vanished, He also left without a word.
As for Aha, who was looking for a reaction, He started laughing again. But this time, He was laughing at Himself. He went through all the trouble of inviting Destruction over, only for the other party to ignore Him.
"Aha truly has no face." It was hilarious.
Thus, Aha really did drop a white mask. Since Nanook had marked her, He, Aha, couldn't fall behind. He had to mark her too, to see if He could watch more interesting things in the future.
Then, as the sky finally became quiet, 'Ruan Mei' looked at the mask in her hand with a complex expression. Along with the power surging into her body, her mood became complicated:
[Character Impersonation System]
[Name: Baiming (Ruan Mei)]
[Lifespan: 300 Years (Paused) + 8 Days (Character Impersonation)]
[Available Transformation Characters: Great Herta (Recharge: 100%), Acheron (Recharge: 82.2%), Star-shatterer (Recharge: 41.3%), Ruan Mei (Impersonating)]
[Available Draw Count: 1 (38.2%)]
Unbeknownst to her, the other progress bars had increased significantly. Furthermore, her lifespan had gained another two hundred years. This increase was clearly Aha's "tip."
She knew full well that Aha was marking her because He wanted to watch the fun. But, two hundred years of lifespan...
It was so worth it!
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