Mythus, the mysterious Aeon of Enigmata, gazed upon the newly born dimensional world within the Warp.
"That dimensional world is filled with energy particles entirely different from those of the universe's existing Paths. Moreover, those particles are like the oxygen mortals need to breathe, exceptionally well suited for souls to survive after death..."
"Without question, The Herta has once again created a mysterious technology that neither mortals nor even Aeons such as Us, who stand at the pinnacle of the cosmos, can comprehend."
"As expected, The Herta is exceptionally well suited to the Path of Enigmata." As Mythus thought this, They noticed another point that surprised even an Aeon like Them. The Herta's soul strength was soaring at an abnormal rate.
Is this also an effect of the new technology and mysterious creation The Herta developed—the world after death?!
With that thought, Mythus observed more carefully and confirmed that The Herta's current soul strength had already surpassed that of ordinary Emanators. It had even reached the pinnacle of Emanator level, yet her soul strength was still increasing, seemingly preparing to break through the ultimate limit and reach a realm above Emanators.
Although such soul strength still fell incomparably short of an Aeon like Them, the rate at which The Herta's soul was growing nevertheless made Mythus regard her in an entirely new light.
Mythus even glimpsed a certain possibility.
If The Herta stopped researching new technologies and instead continued studying Enigmata and deconstructing mysteries... then perhaps one day she could truly ascend to the pinnacle of the cosmos as an Aeon—creating a Path centered on souls, spirituality, and other concepts distinct from material Abundance, granting souls immortality.
As Mythus thought this, They regarded The Herta with increasing appreciation. The result was that The Herta advanced rapidly along the Path of Enigmata. Although she had not yet reached the level of an Emanator of Enigmata, she was close.
Elsewhere, Nanook, Aeon of Destruction, was also gazing upon the world within a world inside the Warp—Soul Society. Through an Aeon's perspective, They swiftly confirmed that the Soul Society Herta had constructed was a world where living beings could live a second life as souls after death—a true afterlife.
Nanook believed that such a world should still be destroyed. After all, if souls did not truly die, then their memories would continue to exist.
Enemies meeting again in the afterlife would still hate one another. Conflicts would still erupt, and wars would still break out... A world like that should still be destroyed.
Only after everything was destroyed could the cosmos be reborn. The new world, with every trace of the old world erased, would be perfect. They would arrange everything in advance.
Such were Nanook's thoughts.
Elsewhere, Qlipoth, Aeon of Preservation, was also gazing upon Soul Society. Looking at this world capable of perfectly accommodating souls, the Amber Lord displayed an emotion of joy.
They believed that since The Herta had created Soul Society, a world capable of perfectly sheltering souls... then when the terrifying future They had foreseen finally arrived, even if more people died, as long as Soul Society still existed, more lives could still be protected.
At that moment, Qlipoth's joy transformed into a blessing that propelled The Herta farther along the Path of Preservation.
Elsewhere, HooH, Aeon of Equilibrium, who had merged with the universe itself, gazed upon Soul Society and felt immense joy at its birth.
Nihility is difficult to balance.
More precisely, before now, no living being in this vast universe had ever been able to oppose Nihility. One could even say that aside from Them, the Aeon of Equilibrium who had merged with the universe itself, Nihility was the strongest force in existence.
The reason was simple. Under normal circumstances, the cosmos' future truly would lead toward Nihility, while maintaining the universe's equilibrium would become increasingly difficult as time passed.
But things were different now. Soul Society had been born. This world where souls could live after death represented a powerful rejection of both the Path of Nihility and IX's philosophy of Nihility.
It could be said that after Soul Society's birth, the Path of Nihility created by IX would be weakened and would no longer be quite so invincible.
Moreover, that weakening would continue to intensify as Soul Society grew.
And if IX, Aeon of Nihility, became weaker, perhaps the direction of the universe's future could be altered, allowing cosmic equilibrium to endure for longer.
HooH of Equilibrium thought joyfully.
Their joy directly caused all kinds of extraordinary phenomena throughout the universe. Across endless galaxies, golden rain fell from the sky, plants and vegetation grew wildly, and humans who were drenched by the golden rain felt their bodies and minds surge with energy.
Beneath Equilibrium's golden rain, everything in the world received a blessing of fortune.
After all, HooH, Aeon of Equilibrium, was an Aeon whose body had merged with the universe. In a certain sense, They were part of the universe itself.
Naturally, changes in Their emotions would affect the universe itself.
HooH noticed the cosmic abnormalities and swiftly adjusted Their emotions, calming Themself.
At that same moment, however, waves had already spread throughout the universe. Countless people began discussing the enormous golden rain of fortune that had suddenly descended across trillions of galaxies.
Topics related to the golden rain of fortune surged to the top of the interastral network's trending rankings.
Meanwhile, within the Warp, The Herta received a blessing from the universe itself—or more precisely, from HooH, Aeon of Equilibrium—and took enormous strides along the Path of Equilibrium.
She was only a single step away from becoming an Emanator of Equilibrium.
At that very moment, another Aeon turned Their gaze toward the Warp and Soul Society.
It was IX, the Aeon who had done nothing but lie around ever since the moment of Their ascension—Nihility.
Their gaze remained firmly fixed upon Soul Society and The Herta, its creator, for quite some time before They silently thought.
The world after death... a world of Reishi!
The souls living within this world will possess sufficiently long spiritual lifespans.
But Herta's efficiency in converting Reishi has a limit. Likewise, there is a limit to how many souls the afterlife can contain.
That means this world will inevitably become overcrowded in the future.
And once the afterlife, Soul Society, reaches its maximum capacity, the fate of those who die afterward will remain unchanged. Their souls will still fall into Nihility.
That means Nihility will continue to exist.
At most, Soul Society can merely delay the arrival of Finality and Nihility.
After thinking this far, IX closed Their eyes again. Their thoughts emptied, and They slumped back down where They were, continuing to lie around and do nothing, believing that the afterlife could not change the tragic future of the cosmos and that everything in existence was destined to return to Nihility.
...
However, IX's brief awakening and series of movements immediately attracted the attention of countless observers.
Across the cosmos, countless factions stationed throughout the supercluster where IX's true body resided personally witnessed the Aeon of Nihility move.
It was an abnormal phenomenon that had never occurred throughout countless Amber Eras.
Upon seeing it, a scholar from the Intelligentsia Guild clutched his head and cried out, "IX's movement may be an omen—a sign that the apocalypse of Nihility is approaching!"
Meanwhile, IPC employees stationed nearby swiftly reported the data to their superiors, who in turn rapidly forwarded it to the Board of Directors.
As a result, the Board immediately convened a meeting and, in the shortest possible time, mobilized IPC personnel scattered throughout the cosmos to conduct a special investigation.
They were to investigate whether the numbers of Self-Annihilators and Doctors of Chaos throughout the cosmos had begun increasing abnormally.
If the number of people falling into Nihility had inexplicably increased, that would mean a meme known as Nihility had emerged within the universe... and if such a meme began spreading, then the cosmos truly might descend into an apocalypse of Nihility.
The Interastral Peace Corporation launched its investigation.
Meanwhile, the Xianzhou Alliance's envoys stationed near IX's true body reported the information back. Marshal Hua then summoned the Arbiter-Generals to a meeting, where she asked Yao Guang, General of the Xianzhou Yuque, to explain the situation.
Acheron, the strongest Self-Annihilator in the cosmos and one who had crowned herself an Emanator of Nihility, was currently located within The Blue's star system—the destination toward which they were heading.
Perhaps Acheron knew the truth behind IX's abnormal behavior.
Upon hearing this, Hua immediately issued an order for the Xianzhou Alliance's Xiandan vessels to accelerate again and reach The Blue's star system as quickly as possible.
The order received unanimous approval from the Xianzhou Arbiter-Generals, who immediately began taking action.
The Xianzhou Yaoqing, Xianzhou Luofu, Zhu Ming Xiandan, Yuque Xiandan, and other Xiandan vessels all accelerated for a second time.
Elsewhere, the Elixir Seekers who had received Yaoshi's blessings and the envoys of Abundance scattered throughout the cosmos also learned through various channels about IX's unusual movement.
Every one of them revealed expressions of terror.
"No! I only just received the blessing of the great Yaoshi and gained immeasurable longevity!"
"Aaaaah... I was still planning to obtain even more blessings of Abundance! I don't want to die, much less fall into Nihility!"
"Great Yaoshi, in Your magnificence, please bestow Your blessing and save us insignificant mortals!"
Countless followers of Abundance, whether Borisin, Wingweavers, or Elixir Seekers, displayed ugly expressions of panic and terror in the face of death and Nihility.
And what kind of divine being was Yaoshi, Aeon of Abundance? Naturally, They heard the calls of those walking the Path of Abundance, yet They showed no reaction.
That was because They knew the truth behind IX's movement. Everything had been caused solely by Soul Society, the afterlife The Herta had researched on a whim.
IX had no intention of plunging the universe into Nihility at the present moment. After all, They merely believed They had seen through the truth of the universe and therefore created the Path of Nihility.
They simply believed that this universe's future was beyond saving and completely without hope. They did not truly wish to cast the universe into Nihility and make it disappear forever.
Of course, Yaoshi had no intention of responding to the prayers of the Borisin, Wingweavers, or Elixir Seekers.
The reason was simple. In Yaoshi's view... IX's abnormal movement would not actually threaten the Elixir Seekers' lives. It was merely a special form of hardship, and enduring such hardship would benefit them.
Perhaps it would transform their temperament and state of mind.
If they truly completed that transformation... then their hearts would become perfect, they would comprehend the true essence of Abundance, and the curse of mara within them would disappear. They would obtain genuine immortality!
At that time, They might even be able to enlighten and bless another Emanator of Abundance and take on another disciple.
After thinking this far, Yaoshi continued on Their journey through the cosmos, spreading the blessings of Abundance.
...
Elsewhere, Lan, Aeon of The Hunt, had also noticed the birth of Soul Society, the world after death. They then adjusted the properties of Their arrows of light.
The Hunt's arrows of vengeance transformed. From then on, they could destroy not only matter, but souls as well.
Eradicate the roots. Pursue and hunt without end!
After all, Lan believed that Yaoshi, Aeon of Abundance, along with the Borisin, Wingweavers, and Elixir Seekers beneath Them who had committed countless atrocities, did not deserve to live a second life in the form of souls.
In addition, most Galaxy Rangers had embarked upon the Path of The Hunt because of vengeance.
Lan, Aeon of The Hunt, likewise did not believe that those hunted down for revenge by the Galaxy Rangers deserved to live a second life as souls after death.
After Lan completed these slight adjustments to Their arrows of light and even to the Path of The Hunt itself, They set out once more to campaign across the cosmos.
Arrows of light continuously streaked through the universe.
Of course, within the vast ocean of endless worlds that made up the cosmos, these streaks of light were not particularly conspicuous. Each appearance merely erased a single world.
...
Elsewhere, beyond the mythology of Amphoreus, electrical static continuously flickered as Lygus fell into deep thought.
Through his other slices, he had already learned of IX's abnormal movement and The Herta's research into Soul Society, the afterlife she had constructed within the Warp.
Soul Society, Soul Gems, Honkai energy... all of it was knowledge that did not belong within the circle of knowledge.
That was strange... Under normal circumstances, Herta should never have been able to research any of those technologies.
After all, every moment within the galaxy had already been calculated by the ascended Nous. Before Nous, Aeon of Erudition, died, even the geniuses of the Genius Society could do nothing more than draw within the circle of knowledge.
To once again create an Aeon and research all manner of forbidden technologies beyond the circle of knowledge, as the original him—Zandar One Kuwabara—had once done, should have been completely impossible.
So how exactly did The Herta develop technologies that transcend the circle of knowledge and surpass logic itself...?
Lygus became deeply confused. At that moment, he even began questioning whether his decision had been correct—to imprison himself within Amphoreus, construct Irontomb as the ultimate weapon for killing Nous, Aeon of Erudition, and thereby win all geniuses the freedom to conduct research.
Lygus pondered for a long time before obtaining the research data of other Genius Society members from his fellow Zandar slices. After discovering that the other geniuses were still circling endlessly within the circle of knowledge, he finally understood and confirmed a certain truth.
The moments anchored by Nous, Aeon of Erudition, and the circle They had drawn still existed. Moreover, it continued exerting its influence, imprisoning the thoughts and imaginations of geniuses.
Within this universe, the only genius capable of transcending Erudition's circle and drawing beyond its boundaries was The Herta.