"Sooner or later, you will regret the choice you made today." Lygus, almost laughing from anger, spoke slowly. "At some point in the future, when the road you walk reaches a critical juncture, you will find that though there is still a path ahead, there stands an insurmountable obstacle you must look up to."
"Only by removing that obstacle can you advance further..."
The Herta immediately interrupted, "Senior, you truly underestimate the wisdom of geniuses. A genius is someone who can create unimaginable technological miracles—just like you once did, the real Zandar One Kuwabara, who as a mortal created an astral computer and elevated it!"
At her side, Screwllum and Ruan Mei both nodded in agreement.
As fellow geniuses, they possessed confidence—confidence that their uniquely irreplaceable selves could carve out a path that pierced the heavens, fulfill their life's ambitions, and create the technology they desired...
Meanwhile, Fuli of Amphoreus, who had been silently observing everything, blinked. A sweet smile appeared on her flawless face as she thought to herself.
As expected, whether it's Herta or Screwllum... they're all good people. Warm-hearted like companions. Even when their own future interests are threatened, they refuse to see Nous fall, to see countless lives perish. They refuse to see the Iron Tomb descend into the world.
Even Ruan Mei—although she initially agreed with Lygus' proposal and was prepared to stand aside—changed her mind after Miss Herta persuaded her.
The most detestable one truly is only a single person—that theoros, Lygus. It was he who created the Black Tide, who brought about the tragic cycle of Amphoreus.
Thinking thus, Fuli of Amphoreus continued watching the conversation unfolding between the geniuses.
At the same time, aboard the Ruanruan, the geniuses' guide Black Swan no longer knew whether she should record these memories. The conversation just now between the geniuses had been far too terrifying.
Killing Nous.
Shattering the rules of the universe, causing sextillions of lives to perish, bringing forward the war of the Aeons!
If such words were to spread, the entire cosmos would tremble.
—Especially since the one planning to kill Nous was the very man who created Nous—Zandar One Kuwabara!!
Haa...
Black Swan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and thought to herself:
At the beginning, in my understanding, this was merely an ordinary guidance mission.
How did things turn into this?
If these geniuses fail to reach an agreement, they won't start fighting, will they?!
At the thought, Black Swan instinctively shrank her neck.
Although she knew that geniuses who walked the Path of Erudition relied heavily on their equipment, the problem was that during this journey she had heard The Herta, Screwllum, and even Ruan Mei say that they had made complete preparations.
And that meant every one of them could enter combat mode at any time.
Correspondingly, Amphoreus was Lygus' home ground. It undoubtedly concealed secrets of Lygus—or rather Zandar's—past war inventions. That meant Lygus was also in a fully prepared state, able to switch into war mode at any moment.
Three successors against a fragment of the very first First Seat member of the Genius Society...
Would they win?
A huge question mark rose within Black Swan's heart.
...
At that moment, Lygus' figure upon the crystalline wall of Amphoreus gazed at the three geniuses before him and slowly spoke. "Since none of you wish to see Nous fall, does that mean you intend to intervene—to stop my experiment in Amphoreus?"
"If you truly harbor such thoughts, I advise you to abandon them. The three of you joining forces may indeed be able to halt my experiment here. But correspondingly, I will also employ my own methods—to ensure our mutual destruction is guaranteed."
Lygus spoke with extreme confidence.
Whether it was The Herta, Ruan Mei, or Screwllum, all of them showed solemn expressions upon hearing those words. Clearly, they had been deterred.
And that was only natural.
After all, Lygus was Zandar's fragment. No one knew what heaven-defying technologies Zandar had created.
The atmosphere at the scene grew tense to the extreme. The confrontation seemed on the verge of erupting into violence at any moment.
Fuli of Amphoreus and Black Swan, who watched from the sidelines, were both extremely nervous.
For Fuli of Amphoreus, she understood that if the two sides truly fought here, the causality of the future would be completely altered. She herself might even vanish directly as causality shifted.
After all, she was not the true Pure Child of Anāsrava who had fully ascended to Fuli. She was merely a Pure Child who had ascended for only a quarter of an hour.
On the other side, Black Swan was already preparing to transform into a memetic entity and flee through spatial transition.
After all, if a battlefield of four geniuses erupted, a Remembrance Pathstrider like her—who was not even an Emanator—would likely be killed by the shockwaves if she did not run fast enough.
Moreover, Black Swan was certain that if war truly broke out, its aftermath would absolutely spread to other star systems. By then, the gazes of various forces would converge here.
Even Nous of Erudition would be no exception.
After all, a fragment of Zandar—the man who created Them—was here in Amphoreus, plotting to kill Nous. That would undoubtedly attract Nous' direct attention.
Of course, it would not be only Nous. The faction of Destruction would likely send someone as well. After all, Lygus had openly declared his intention to kill an Aeon—something perfectly aligned with the ideology of Destruction.
At the same time, the Garden of Recollection would hold her, Black Swan, accountable.
Because the root cause of all this was that she had brought the three geniuses here, using the Garden of Recollection's Mirror to observe Amphoreus.
...
While Fuli of Amphoreus and Black Swan harbored different thoughts, The Herta, Ruan Mei, and Screwllum remained outwardly calm—though for different reasons.
Ruan Mei naturally possessed fewer emotions than ordinary people. More importantly, she was an Emanator of Erudition. She did not believe herself weaker than Lygus.
After all, no matter what, Lygus was not the true Zandar One Kuwabara—merely one of his nine fragments.
As for her, Ruan Mei, though she believed she had not yet reached her peak, she was confident that her current self could engage Lygus in battle.
Screwllum, on the other hand, had made thorough preparations before coming. And he was also curious to see how a war between himself—the mechanical sovereign of Planet Screwllum—and Lygus, the Intellitron fragment among Zandar's nine pieces, would unfold.
As for The Herta, she did not believe that having been a genius for less than half a month, she could rival the First Seat of the Genius Society.
Of course, that was mainly because her time as a genius had been too short.
If she were given a little more time to research and produce a few more powerful creations—such as the Herta Xianzhou... then she, Herta, would, like Ruan Mei, confidently believe she could fight Lygus head-on.
Of course, the reason Herta was able to remain calm in such a situation was because she understood something clearly:
Lygus had chosen Amphoreus—a desolate world untouched even by Trailblaze—for his experiment precisely because he did not want it to appear within Nous' full field of vision.
And once a battle broke out, the abnormal fluctuations caused by three geniuses taking action would inevitably alarm Nous' true body.
—So if anyone present least desired open war, it would undoubtedly be Lygus.
For now, the initiative was on her side.
After firmly confirming this in her heart, Herta raised the Herta Magic Wand in her hand, its violet-black radiance flickering as she broke the oppressive silence.
"Senior, after all that... you merely possess the means to ensure mutual destruction with us."
"Is that not enough?" Lygus replied. "Every genius is among the most intelligent beings in the cosmos. Seeking advantage and avoiding harm is instinct. I do not believe you would stake your lives merely to prevent my plan within Amphoreus from killing Nous."
His blunt words intensified the tension.
Because the situation had grown increasingly clear—Lygus very likely truly possessed the means of mutual annihilation, and yet the geniuses on Herta's side had no immediate countermeasure.
At that moment, Herman's voice sounded within Herta's mind.
"Herta, there is no need to be anxious. Before Lygus' plan succeeds—before he nurtures the Lord Ravager Iron Tomb, strikes the Path of Erudition, shatters the foundational rules of the cosmos—at least one, perhaps even several Amber Eras must still pass."
"You have ample time. What you need to do now is not to stake your life to stop Lygus' experiment, but to acquire more resources and accelerate your own growth."
"Do not forget the original purpose for which you came to Amphoreus."
!!
At Herman's reminder, Herta's heart trembled.
At least one—or even several—Amber Eras before Iron Tomb would be successfully nurtured?
Herman would not deceive her. After all, he truly had never lied to her.
In that case, what mattered more now was obtaining the data of Amphoreus' Emperor's Scepter.
After reaching this conclusion, Herta slowly spoke to Lygus.
"We do not wish to see your plan advance further—to see Nous fall, to see countless lives across the cosmos destroyed. But likewise, you do not wish to go to war with us."
"In that case, why don't we each take a step back?"
"Take a step back? How so?" Lygus responded seriously. "In any case, you absolutely cannot enter my testing ground. That is my bottom line."
"With your wisdom, if you were to enter Amphoreus, my plan would be thrown into chaos—perhaps even driven to total failure."
As one of Zandar's fragments, Lygus understood deeply that the geniuses who joined the Genius Society were beings of unfathomable intellect.
If they had discovered Amphoreus' uniqueness and come to investigate, then if they were allowed inside, they would absolutely possess the means and ability to cause Iron Tomb to die before birth.
They might even directly seize the still-developing Lord Ravager, taking control of the unborn entity and using that method to prevent damage to the Path of Erudition.
In Lygus' view, Herta in particular possessed that possibility—the ability to seize Iron Tomb, to seize the Lord Ravager while still gestating.
"Our true bodies need not enter," Herta said. "We can simply throw some of our inventions inside. Would that be acceptable?"
Lygus fell into contemplation.
If he agreed to Herta's proposal and allowed the three geniuses to cast their tools into Amphoreus, then they would withdraw. And as long as he silenced that Remembrance Pathstrider, Black Swan—or even erased her memories—his Iron Tomb apocalypse plan could continue.
If he refused Herta's suggestion, even if no battle occurred now... once the three geniuses departed Amphoreus, his plan would risk exposure.
After all, every genius possessed the opportunity to have an audience with an Aeon. If Herta, Ruan Mei, or Screwllum casually mentioned the current state of Amphoreus during such an audience, Nous might not descend personally to interfere.
But Nous would certainly use Their infinite computational power to simulate what would happen after Iron Tomb's birth—and formulate countermeasures.
At that point, his plan to create Iron Tomb, infect the Path of Erudition with the Iron Tomb virus, and ultimately cause Nous' fall would collapse completely.
He, Lygus, would become a prisoner Lygus—the most useless fragment among Zandar's nine.
After reaching this conclusion, Lygus raised his head and spoke slowly.
"I accept your proposal. The three of you may each deploy a genius artifact into Amphoreus. In addition, you must sign this contract—to ensure that you will not leak information about Amphoreus to the outside world."
"Correspondingly, I will not obstruct your artifacts from being obtained by beings within Amphoreus."
Herta, Screwllum, and Ruan Mei all nodded.
Lygus' gaze then shifted to Black Swan. "You will also sign this contract. If you refuse, I will erase your memories."
Black Swan replied earnestly, "Regarding the leakage of Amphoreus' memories, Mr. Lygus, you need not worry. You most likely know that every precious memory is worthy of preservation to a Remembrance Pathstrider... I will bury everything I have just recorded deep within my heart. I will absolutely, absolutely not reveal it. I swear."
"Compared to oaths, I trust contracts more."
As Lygus spoke, his gaze upon Black Swan turned cold.
"I'll sign. I'll sign."
Soon, Black Swan signed together with Herta, Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Lygus himself.
It was a special and ancient contract.
A contract originating from an ancient Aeon.
The Aeon of Equilibrium, HooH.
An Aeon who had already merged with the foundational rules of the universe, influencing every aspect of the cosmos.
Lygus used the ancient Equilibrium contract that Zandar had once obtained by chance in the distant past to bind the four of them.
If the agreement were violated—if Amphoreus' circumstances were leaked to the outside world—then the violator would suffer the universe's unseen targeting.
Luck would plummet to the lowest depths. Every day of life would be filled with accidents, as though living within an endless film of Final Destination.
Of course, this Equilibrium contract applied to both sides.
Having signed it, Lygus could no longer obstruct Herta and the others from deploying their ingenious little artifacts into Amphoreus.
Ruan Mei cast into Amphoreus her magic wand. It would represent her will and obstruct Lygus' experiment.
Screwllum deployed his monocle—the eyewear of the sovereign of Planet Screwllum. It could assist its wearer in perceiving the truths hidden behind phenomena.
He hoped that within Amphoreus, a savior would arise—someone capable of seeing through Lygus' conspiracy.
As for Herta, what she sent in was the final Herta Puppet aboard the Ruanruan.
The magic wand, the monocle, the Herta Puppet...
The three genius artifacts descended into the world of Amphoreus.
All of this was witnessed by Fuli of Amphoreus, and her eyes shimmered with brilliant light.
Miss Ruan's magic wand.
Mr. Screwllum's monocle.
And the Herta Puppet representing Herta's will...
Amphoreus would welcome a new variable countless cycles earlier than expected.
Perhaps this time, an even more interesting, more romantic story would unfold.
Hmm... let me think. At the beginning of this story, Miss Ruan's magic wand shall accompany Miss Herta's puppet.
As for Mr. Screwllum's monocle... let it be obtained by the most intelligent Anaxagoras.
Fuli of Amphoreus raised her arm and gently drew Amphoreus into her embrace, stirring causality and altering the trajectories of the falling wand, monocle, and Herta Puppet...