Although 'Georios' had used Originium as bait at the time, successfully drawing the gaze of nearly every living soul in the cosmos toward that easily attainable treasure, there were still those with clearer heads.
A select few managed to pull themselves away from the siren call of Originium, refocusing their attention back on the person behind it all.
High-ranking officials within the Xianzhou Alliance were among them, as were several executives from the IPC.
Thanks to Xuanquan, the Xianzhou side was already drawing up plans to establish contact with 'Georios'.
The IPC, however, remained far more cautious.
They had little to no common ground.
If one had to stretch it, the only connections were Sparkle—a Vice-Director who clearly wasn't loyal to the cause—and Jade, who had cross paths with them once before.
Regardless, Diamond felt relatively secure about the situation; after all, anyone with even a shred of a connection belonged to his Strategic Investment Department.
Of course, not everyone shared his comfort.
Take Oswaldo Schneider, for instance, whose business ventures had been sabotaged by Sparkle time and time again.
Not long ago, he was a rising star, a formidable candidate for the position of Department Head.
But ever since that woman followed the trail back to the IPC and threw her lot in with Diamond, Oswaldo's life had become a series of suffocating frustrations.
He couldn't for the life of him figure out what kind of blood feud he supposedly had with Sparkle.
He understood her need to find "Elation," and once or twice he could have written it off as bad luck—like being bitten by a stray dog—but this?
Chasing him down with such frantic, obsessive madness? The woman was clearly unhinged.
Naturally, Oswaldo never breathed a word about how he'd exhausted every scheme to have Sparkle killed, only for every single plan to blow up in his face, allowing her to flip the script and bury him in the fallout.
As for Sparkle, her initial motivation was simple: she just wanted to see how long it would take for a man like Oswaldo to suffer a complete mental breakdown.
Later on, since Oswaldo insisted on practically begging for more, Sparkle found herself enjoying a long-lost thrill—the joy of a true battle of wits.
After all, no matter how you sliced it, Oswaldo wouldn't have reached his current heights without significant talent and a ruthless streak.
However, compared to Sparkle—who didn't give a damn about profit, loss, or even winning or losing, and lived solely for the sake of the "punchline"—Oswaldo was inherently at a disadvantage.
Eventually, once Sparkle had gathered enough material, she swung by to share her recent bout of fun with 'Georios'. It was only then that 'Georios' remembered Oswaldo still had an unexploded bomb sitting right under him.
Because Sparkle had been the one doing all the heavy lifting while she stayed out of it, 'Georios' tended to forget the details.
"...How have you kept this going for so long? I thought you'd lose interest after two or three rounds at most."
"Sigh... I almost did, honestly. But it's all his fault for being so incompetent! Who told him to take this long to kill off his predecessor and seize that Director's seat? I'm practically dying of boredom waiting for him."
It was impossible to tell from Sparkle's tone whether she was actually bored or having the time of her life. But just as 'Georios' was about to chime in, Sparkle's voice shifted.
"But, it looks like Oswaldo is finally reaching his breaking point."
"Now? That's fast. Is he giving up on racking up more merits?"
"With Lady Sparkle around, his only choice is to take a desperate gamble," she chirped. Behind that playful lilt was a malice so thick it practically overflowed.
Even knowing it was directed at Oswaldo, 'Georios' couldn't help but marvel internally.
Truly, someone like Sparkle was a genuine Pathstrider of Elation.
If she had to guess, Sparkle's recent whirlwind of activity was specifically designed to back Oswaldo into a corner, forcing him to snatch the Director's chair prematurely.
'Georios' knew enough about Oswaldo. Character aside, the man was capable and his promotion had been meteoric.
Not long ago, his rank had surged following his appointment as an Emanator of Preservation. But recently, he'd hit a brick wall.
He should have ascended to Director naturally on the back of several successful ventures. Instead, he was facing a string of high-profile failures. Worse, he couldn't deal with the root cause of his misery.
Watching Sparkle hang around Pier Point every day just to spite him was driving him mad. Forget a promotion—Oswaldo felt the position slipping further and further away.
It wasn't that the Board of Directors had lost faith in his talent. For a giant like the IPC, a few failed projects couldn't overshadow a lifetime of results. The real issue was Sparkle.
She was clearly targeting Oswaldo personally.
If he couldn't solve a personal problem and kept losing in what was supposed to be a fair competition, how could the Board trust him with the entire Marketing Development Department?
As it stood, Sparkle was only messing with Oswaldo's personal projects. If he became Director, wouldn't she just expand her playground to include the whole department?
Unless something drastic happened, Oswaldo would never sit in that chair as long as Sparkle remained an unsolved problem.
Oswaldo was a man defined by power and expansion.
He had walked ninety-nine and a half steps of a hundred-step journey. He already had one foot through the door, yet that final half-step remained impossible to take. How could he not be anxious?
But he knew his own situation best.
Because of that borrowed power of Preservation, he couldn't simply kill Sparkle outright. After several failed attempts to eliminate her, Oswaldo finally decided to use "other" methods to secure his seat.
"Sparkle probably won't have much to do for a while. I expect Oswaldo will start acting like a rabid dog, tearing his competitors' throats out... or getting his own torn out in the process."
Eliminate every rival who posed a threat, force the old Director into retirement, and the position would have no choice but to fall into his lap.
Once he was Director, he'd topple Diamond, and only then would he turn his full attention back to Sparkle.
That was Oswaldo's plan.
And Sparkle... well, she was the one who had meticulously engineered this entire board state. She knew exactly what was coming next. She was just curious to see how far Oswaldo would go.
That would determine the quality of the "elation" she'd harvest.
"My, my... All that manual labor was worth it. Lady Sparkle finally gets to see the fruits of her seeds."
Hearing Sparkle's exaggeratedly sweet, high-pitched sigh, 'Georios' found herself getting a bit curious as well.
"Now you've got me interested."
'Georios' decided that when Sparkle's plan reached its climax, she would manifest as the Aeon of Elation and reward both Sparkle and Oswaldo with a little gold star.
Mostly just to satisfy her own curiosity.
"But why contact me now? Just to share your excitement?"
"Duh! What else?" Sparkle giggled on the other end of the line. "We're the only two besties in on the joke, right? I can't exactly tell anyone else. You have no idea how much I've been holding this in!"
"..."
Seeing 'Georios' go silent, Sparkle let out another snicker. "Speaking of which, you're an Aeon now. Once Oswaldo is played out, when are we going to find some real fun?"
"Fun isn't that easy to come by. Besides, I'm actually busy, you know." Even as she chatted with Sparkle, 'Georios' was multitasking on her research.
"Eh? An Aeon of Elation who can't find anything fun?"
Sparkle's tone was dripping with the attitude of a bratty subordinate. It was enough to make anyone's fist itch.
"Is it possible that Aha and I represent the Masked Fools and the Mourning Actors respectively?"
"Pfft... A Mourning Actor? You? I don't buy it." Sparkle laughed, her expression skeptical.
While 'Georios' wasn't as obsessed with chaos as a typical Fool, she certainly wasn't beneath stirring the pot. She didn't fit the "tragic" vibe of a Mourning Actor at all.
"Alas, our bond has faded. You don't love little Sparkle anymore. Even your excuses are lazy—a tragic, thick wall has grown between us besties."
"Be serious, or I'll fly over there and hang you up by your heels."
"Aww, no sense of rhythm at all. How dull. Fine, fine, I'm done playing. I'll call you when the results are in so we can watch the finale together." Sparkle chirped and hung up, feeling thoroughly satisfied at the sight of 'Georios' looking like she was on the verge of losing her temper.
Even with god-like power, her personality remained exactly the same.
A few days after the call, the IPC's Marketing Development Department underwent a sudden and frequent series of personnel reshuffles.
There were even rumors that things had nearly turned lethal. Of course, with the IPC's grip on information, such news rarely leaked to the public.
'Georios' only knew because of Sparkle. The girl was visibly ecstatic, badgering her online every time a new piece of intel surfaced, sharing her moods and every random thought.
'Georios', buried in her research, didn't monitor the messages 24/7, so her replies were sparse, but Sparkle never tired of it.
This allowed 'Georios' to passively track Oswaldo's movements. From the data, it was clear: when Oswaldo moved, he moved for the kill.
Had the Board of Directors not been watching from above, she suspected he would have purged the entire department without a single pang of conscience.
Shortly after, the old Director of Marketing Development "voluntarily" resigned and went into seclusion for unknown reasons, sending shockwaves through the IPC.
With no competitors left standing, Oswaldo—despite his recent blemishes—successfully claimed the title of Department Head.
Upon hearing the news, 'Georios' asked Sparkle if she planned to strike during the promotion ceremony.
Sparkle, acting all mysterious, simply said she'd decide when the time came. 'Georios' figured she ought to be there to see it for herself, just so she didn't miss out.
--+--
And so—
On the day of Oswaldo's formal promotion.
During the ceremony at Pier Point.
A burst of laughter echoed from the void, piercing through the dimensions to descend upon the IPC headquarters.
The presence of Preservation flickered for a moment as Qlipoth issued a brief warning, but the Amber Lord did not move to block the consciousness of 'Georios'.
'Georios', having crossed the star-sea with her intent, utilized the power of an Aeon to manifest a gargantuan, celestial form.
Beneath that masked visage was a face that couldn't stop grinning.
"Oswaldo, I bring you Elation!"
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL