Nous, the Aeon of Erudition, cast Their gaze upon The Blue star system. Within Their core, the mysteries of 0101... calculations flickered endlessly.
They were thinking—contemplating how Herta's newly developed black technology would change the future.
With mere thought, mere deduction... They derived an entirely new possible future. In that possibility, the Warp created by Herta would fully mature, spreading across the entire cosmos.
At the same time, the Warp would bear the emotions of the entire cosmos—whether positive or negative, whether joy or pain, everything would flow into the Warp.
But the key issue was this: in this vast galactic cosmos, powerful beings were everywhere, and madmen ran rampant. The Antimatter Legion executed the command of Destruction, annihilating world after world. This directly caused the negative emotions of this universe to overwhelm the positive ones.
The boundless negative emotions triggered a resonance storm with the cancerous Stellaron of Harmony, bringing the star rails of Trailblaze to a halt. Meanwhile, in that possible future, the overwhelming quantity of negative emotions would also give birth to negative entities...
Of course, when Nous calculated this possible future timeline, They did not include HooH as a variable.
If the Aeon of Equilibrium were added into the equation, everything would be different.
Equilibrium would balance the entire universe, including the Warp... Under its influence, positive and negative emotions would tend toward balance rather than falling into imbalance and triggering catastrophe.
Nous considered many possibilities, and in the end, Their computational core reached a conclusion:
The Warp dimension created by Herta was extremely special, possessing extraordinary growth characteristics. If it reached its peak, it might truly influence the rise and fall of the universe.
More importantly, the Warp could contain soul projections—even souls themselves. This gave the souls of the dead a temporary destination, rather than having them return to nothingness...
Perhaps, through Herta's efforts, the apocalyptic end of Nihility among the Four Apocalypses could truly be erased.
Nous' gaze toward Herta grew increasingly serious.
At the same time, Yaoshi of Abundance was also observing this region of The Blue star system. They felt endless joy at the birth of this newborn Warp dimension. They could sense that, with the Warp's emergence, many soul-based lifeforms in the world would be able to continue existing within it, rather than being devoured by Nihility.
How perfectly this aligned with the Path of Abundance.
If Herta had not been brought into the Genius Society by Nous, Yaoshi would have wanted to recruit her, grant her blessings, and make her a member of the Abundance family.
"Herta, Herta..."
Yaoshi softly recited Herta's name in Their mind. At the same time, They carefully extended Their perception, and soon discovered that within the Warp, a portion of Abundance's blood still existed—and was continuously absorbing emotional energy, undergoing its own transformation.
This made Yaoshi realize that perhaps, one day in the future, a special lifeform walking the Path of Abundance would be born within the Warp.
Without a doubt, this was a good thing.
Meanwhile, Nous also immediately noticed that within the Warp, the Blood of Genius was undergoing changes. The blood of genius was restructuring, evolving toward higher intelligence.
Based on this, They performed further deductions, calculating that over time, the Blood of Genius would rapidly complete its growth and ultimately transform into a living being—a special entity with the potential to become an Emanator.
At the moment Nous reached this conclusion, a fragment of incomprehensible code flickered through Their core. It was Their way of expressing a thought:
Herta had only recently become a genius, yet her research projects had already begun autonomously nurturing a newborn Emanator... And more importantly, as long as Herta did not remove the Blood of Genius from the Warp—thus destabilizing its foundational structure—then with the passage of time, a new Emanator of Erudition was destined to be born.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Nanook of Destruction and Aha of Elation were also drawn by the massive disturbance in the universe. They each cast a glance toward The Blue star system, learning the source of the upheaval across a million galaxies.
Everything had been caused by Herta—or more precisely, by her new research project.
"Hahaha... Aha's gift—the mask of the Fool—has truly been put to good use by Herta."
Aha's mask appeared in a higher dimension, laughing wildly. "To use the Fool's mask to create something as marvelous as the Warp—this is truly wonderful. Remarkable, Herta."
Aha had already confirmed that the Warp could contain souls. This meant that not only could people laugh freely while alive, but after death, within the Warp, they could reunite with the souls of their loved ones and continue their joy...
Joy in life, reunion and joy in death!
...
On the other side, Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, watched the emotional energy burning within the Warp. Observing how that energy was being drawn to nourish the Gilded Blood of Extinction, causing it to flourish, They could not help but think:
Perhaps one day in the future, the bearer of the Gilded Blood would awaken self-awareness and become a new Lord Ravager.
More importantly, this new Lord Ravager would be born purely from Destruction, reliant on the Gilded Blood. It might even become a being capable of bringing destruction to Nanook Themselves...
Indeed, giving the Gilded Blood to Herta had been the correct decision. In such a short time, she had already brought such immense surprise.
Such an existence should be left for last—to be destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Aeon of Nihility, IX, also opened Their two eyes—one large and one small. They had already sensed that within the cosmos, a unique dimension had emerged. That dimension provided a resting place for the souls of the dead, preventing them from immediately returning to nothingness.
However, IX did not move, nor were They stirred. They still believed that the birth of the Warp could not change the state of the universe.
Because They could perceive that although the Warp could temporarily contain souls, without physical bodies, those souls would, after a period of time within that emotion-filled dimension, descend into madness—ultimately self-destructing and falling into Nihility.
Furthermore, in some distant future, once all life in the universe perished, the Warp itself would also collapse into nothingness.
After all, the Warp depended on the emotions of living beings. Once all life was gone, it would have no emotions to absorb, and would naturally fall into Nihility.
In IX's view, the future of the cosmos remained unchanged—Nihility. The universe would inevitably reach it's end. This was destined, and no one could alter it.
Thus, at this moment, IX closed Their eyes once more and returned to their state of stillness.
At the same time, the will of Terminus, returning from the future, was also observing the birth of the Warp. They could sense that within Their origin of the future, yet another possibility of an ending—a new apocalypse—had been added.
In this newly emerged apocalyptic possibility, the Warp would fall into imbalance—or more precisely, it would be overtaken by negative emotions. The four powerful entities born within the Warp in the future would also be guided by these negative forces, launching an invasion war against the material universe and ultimately driving it toward a catastrophic end.
This further confirmed to Terminus that Herta was actively changing the universe, granting it more possibilities.
More importantly, since Herta could create worse possibilities for the universe, she could naturally also guide it toward better, more perfect outcomes.
In the perception of Terminus' will of Finality, Miss Herta had already become equivalent to an alternative Trailblaze Aeon—Akivili!
On the other side, HooH, the Aeon who had already merged with the greater cosmos, also sensed that Herta had created the Warp—a place capable of containing emotions and even temporarily housing souls.
They could not help but think to Themselves.
Once again, it's you—the 83rd Seat of the Genius Society, Herta!
Your previous Soul Gem technology left behind αWolf, who does not belong to this spacetime!
And now you've stirred things up again, creating a world completely different from reality—one that can contain emotions and even souls!
This is making my task of maintaining equilibrium far more demanding!
However, from a broader perspective, the birth of the Warp was a good thing. By absorbing excess emotional energy from living beings, it meant that the number of deranged Pathstriders in the universe would likely decrease. The cosmos would shift from chaos toward greater order and balance.
More importantly, the concept of IX, the Aeon of Nihility, truly required something to counterbalance it—and the Warp could serve that role well.
After all, with the birth of a dimension capable of containing souls, death no longer meant immediate return to Nihility. Instead, souls would enter the Warp, this special dimension...
However, the balance between positive and negative emotions within the Warp still required guidance and regulation.
After all, in this universe, the disparity between positive and negative emotions was indeed quite significant.
Having reached this point in Their thoughts, HooH began to act silently—guiding and balancing the positive and negative emotional energy absorbed by the Warp, ensuring that the two forces maintained an even equilibrium.
As a result, the emotional energy absorbed by the Gilded Blood of Extinction, the Fool's Mask, the Blood of Genius, and the Blood of Abundance within the Warp was no longer overwhelmingly negative compared to the positive.
Meanwhile, one after another, avatars of Harmony opened their eyes and established connections.
The will of Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony, awakened fully. Their gaze fell upon the Warp—and upon Herta:
A soul-domain dimension corresponding to the material world... for Herta to develop such technology—this is truly magnificent!
What an excellent Herta, what a remarkable talent!
Such talent would make the perfect member of the Family. Ah... if only Herta had joined the Family instead of the Genius Society back then.
But it doesn't matter. Herta has already established cooperation with the Family of Penacony. All that remains is to guide and subtly influence her—sooner or later, she will join the Family and become part of the Harmony faction.
In the future, the wisdom of geniuses will belong to Harmony.
More precisely, the hearts of countless beings across the cosmos—and even the wisdom of all geniuses—will belong to Harmony, becoming pieces of its grand mosaic.
At the same time, the Aeon of The Hunt, Lan, also turned Their gaze toward the Warp. More precisely, Their arrow of light had already taken aim at it.
This was because They had sensed traces of Abundance within the Warp, and that presence was still growing—possessing the potential to become an Emanator of Abundance. Even more intolerable was the fact that, at the moment of the Warp's birth, negative emotions had already surpassed the positive.
There was no doubt that if such a lifeform—one with the potential to become an Emanator of Abundance—were to grow within a space filled with negative emotional energy, it would inevitably become an Abomination of Abundance that would bring disaster to the universe.
And that was something Lan could not tolerate.
Just as They prepared to release the arrow, They sensed the gazes of multiple Aeons—and also felt HooH taking action, balancing the positive and negative emotional energies within the Warp.
This caused the Reignbow Arbiter to halt the shot. It was not out of fear, but because They judged that the likelihood of that nascent Abundance lifeform becoming a disaster had decreased.
It must be understood that Lan does not hate all beings who walk the Path of Abundance. What They despise—and seek to eliminate—are those Abominations of Abundance that commit evil, seize the blessings of Abundance from other civilizations, oppress them, and bring catastrophe to the universe.
As for civilizations like the Xianzhou, which do not commit such acts and instead bring peace while possessing the divine relic Jianmu, Lan holds no hatred toward them.
In a distant corner of the cosmos, Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, who endlessly built walls, paused Their construction. They cast a glance toward the Warp and thought silently:
Herta has created a new dimension—a soul domain entirely different from reality.
Indeed, walls must not only be built in the material realm. In the domain of the soul, walls within the Warp must also be constructed!
This is to prevent future enemies from launching attacks through the domain of the soul!
Build the walls!
Build the walls!
Having reached this conclusion, Qlipoth resumed swinging Their hammer, now using new materials to construct walls within the Warp's soul dimension.
Meanwhile, in Amphoreus... Fuli of Amphoreus—who possessed memories of a future in which she had already ascended to Aeonhood—perceived the changes in the outside world through her extraordinary awareness:
Herta has developed new technology—a soul dimension known as the Warp! Truly remarkable, opening up an entirely new world!
Is this the power of a genius?!
With this thought, Fuli of Amphoreus turned her gaze inward, toward the internal world of Amphoreus. She looked upon Cyrene, who had taken up a Soul Gem and transformed into a magical girl, and thought silently:
The flow of time in the outside universe and within Amphoreus is completely different. Since Herta left Amphoreus, multiple cycles of recreation have already occurred within its internal world.
More importantly, the Chrysos Heirs girls who possess Soul Gems have, through these cycles of recreation, truly mastered magical power—able to transform into magical girls and cast spells.
For example, the past Fuli of Amphoreus—or rather, Cyrene—has mastered the ability to transform into a pink-themed magical girl, drawing a bow to form crystal-based attacks.
Although this magic may appear somewhat ordinary, in Fuli of Amphoreus' eyes, it is already a miraculous form of magic.
This proves that the Magical Girl Causality Cultivation Project truly has the potential to succeed...