After Phantylia learned that The Herta had ascended to godhood, she was completely dumbfounded.
The reason was extremely simple. In the past, she had genuinely attempted to seize The Herta's creation, the Chakra God Tree, and had even been killed once by The Herta in the world of The Blue's star system.
More importantly, the reason she had been able to come back to life after dying once was also because of the existence of a Soul Gem.
She had split her own soul, allowing a portion of it to reside within the Soul Gem. Only through this method had she survived.
And the Soul Gem itself was another creation of The Herta... Phantylia had already been worried that Herta might have planted some hidden measure inside it.
Moreover, according to the description given by her Lord Nanook, The Herta was the one who created the Path of Spirituality and became an Aeon.
—Spirituality was undoubtedly deeply connected to the soul.
The more Phantylia thought about it, the more she felt that her very life had already fallen into The Herta's grasp... As long as The Herta wished it, she could probably take Phantylia's life with ease.
At that moment, Phantylia fell into overwhelming fear.
And just then, Celenova asked her Lord Nanook, "My Lord, I have already mobilized members of the faction of Destruction to investigate the world of The Blue's star system, but the response they gave me is that everything there is normal."
"That is entirely reasonable. After all, The Herta did not ascend at this point in time. Like Terminus of Finality and Fuli of Remembrance, she ascended at a future point in time."
Ascended in the future?!
The hearts of the Lord Ravagers shook.
At that moment, the voice of their Lord Nanook continued, "Terminus can use the most special wisp of Their divine body, Elio, to wield the power of Terminus and thereby perceive possibilities within destiny."
"And the Pure Child can likewise use certain methods to transform into Fuli within the present era and become the Aeon of Remembrance."
"As for The Herta, since she is the past incarnation and past anchor of the Aeon of Spirituality, she can naturally wield the power of the Aeon of Spirituality as well. So for now... do not make a move against Herta. You are not her opponents."
"Yes, my Lord."
Every Lord Ravager responded.
Whether it was Celenova or Zephyro... once all the Lord Ravagers learned that The Herta could borrow the power of her future self and exploit such an outrageous advantage, none of them retained any intention of destroying her.
After all, borrowing the Aeon-level power of one's future self was simply too absurd.
Other than an Aeon Themself, there was probably no one left in the universe capable of defeating Herta, including the Lord Ravagers present.
Seeing this, Nanook gave a slight nod, withdrew Their gaze from the Lord Ravagers, and silently thought.
My conversation with the future Aeon of Spirituality was meaningful. She said that Herta of this era possesses limitless possibilities.
As long as her research continues, sooner or later she will change this universe!
With that thought, Nanook shifted Their gaze toward the Path of Destruction that They had created. They could see that, after observing the existence of the Aeon of Spirituality, the Path of Destruction itself had instinctively begun nurturing a power capable of destroying spirituality.
If enough of this power were accumulated, then shared and bestowed as a blessing... it would be possible to create a Lord Ravager specialized in destroying the Aeon of Spirituality.
Of course, Nanook had no intention of creating such a Lord Ravager in the near future. They still held expectations for The Herta, hoping that she might save this universe in her own way.
If Herta and Stelle... were unable to save this universe...
Then Nanook would have no reason to hold back any longer. They would simply follow Destruction to its very end—to burn the entire cosmos in the flames of Destruction!
To destroy everything!
Nanook, Aeon of Destruction, thought this as They opened Their golden eyes. Within them were both expectation and the resolve to destroy all things.
...
Elsewhere, the generals of the Xianzhou Alliance were also holding a high-level meeting at that very moment. The topic of the meeting was the identity of the Aeon of Spirituality.
Was this new Aeon an Arbiter who treated living beings kindly, a neutral Sacrosanct, or perhaps an Author of Calamity who brought calamity upon the lives of the cosmos?!
Marshal Hua was the first to speak in the conference room. "The appearance of another Aeon within the cosmos is an enormous variable for the cosmos. We must confirm this Aeon's identity, as well as Their moral alignment."
Huaiyan stroked the white beard on his chin. "The intelligence personnel of the Xianzhou Zhuming have all been mobilized, but as of now, they still haven't found any information."
Feixiao shrugged. "Everyone knows the people of the Xianzhou Yaoqing are best at fighting. Gathering intelligence has always been one of our weaker areas."
Jing Yuan said, "Just now, I already had Fu Qing perform calculations using the Matrix of Prescience, but she still couldn't determine the Aeon of Spirituality's true identity. It was almost as though this Aeon didn't exist at all."
The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavy.
And just then, Yao Guang, general of the Xianzhou Yuque, spoke.
"Marshal, everyone, just now my Fortune Hexagram calculations successfully determined the true identity of the Aeon of Spirituality."
?!
Everyone present immediately focused their gazes on Yao Guang.
Yao Guang had no intention of concealing the result and directly stated the outcome of her calculations.
"The true identity of the Aeon of Spirituality is none other than the person we're currently on our way to meet."
Every general widened their eyes.
Jing Yuan in particular opened his normally narrowed eyes so wide that he even let out an audible "Huh?"
Marshal Hua's pupils contracted sharply. She stood up, braced both hands against the table, and asked Yao Guang, "Rongtao, do you understand what you're saying?"
"Of course." An extremely serious expression appeared on Yao Guang's delicate face. "My Fortune Hexagram calculations incorporated the formulas of Solitary Waves Theory... and precisely because of that, I calculated that the Aeon of Spirituality is Madam Herta, the very person we intend to invite into the Xianzhou Alliance."
"However, the one who ascended was not Madam Herta of the present, but Madam Herta of the future."
"My Fortune Hexagram · Solitary Waves Theory calculations told me all of this."
!!
At that moment, all the Xianzhou Arbiter-Generals present were somewhat at a loss.
After all, they had originally been preparing to invite The Herta to join the Xianzhou Alliance.
Yet now The Herta had abruptly transformed in magnificent fashion and become an Aeon, an existence on the same level as the Reignbow Arbiter.
What were they even supposed to make of this...
At that moment, all the Xianzhou Arbiter-Generals understood that their attempt to invite The Herta into the Xianzhou Alliance would most likely end in failure.
Noticing the expressions around her, Yao Guang said seriously, "Herta may no longer agree to join the Alliance, but Shipgirl Herta still can. Don't forget that Shipgirl Herta, the Xianzhou vessel created by Madam Herta, also possesses an independent personality."
The Arbiter-Generals' eyes lit up.
That's right!
Herta has ascended, making it difficult for her to join the Alliance, but the Alliance can still invite the Shipgirl Herta under her command!
The Xianzhou Alliance inviting a Xianzhou vessel to join them was perfectly appropriate.
After discussing it among themselves, the Arbiter-Generals all felt that Yao Guang's idea was excellent.
Marshal Hua, meanwhile, thought of another crucial point.
Since the one who became an Aeon was Herta, there was no longer any need to worry about her alignment.
After all, everyone knew that she loved research... Even if she did not become an Arbiter, she should at least be a Sacrosanct.
There was absolutely no way she would become an Author of Calamity.
The Marshal and the Arbiter-Generals reached a joint decision. The Alliance's warships would continue onward, their destination unchanged—the world of The Blue's star system.
They would seek out The Herta and ask whether she had experienced any unusual changes after her ascension.
In addition, they would invite Shipgirl Herta, the Herta Xianzhou shipgirl, to join the Xianzhou Alliance.
The engines of the six Xianzhou world-ships roared as they sped along the star rail opened by the Aeon of Trailblaze.
Meanwhile, within the Stellaron Hunters, Destiny's Slave—the most unusual wisp of will within the divine body of Terminus—the black cat Elio suddenly bristled from head to tail and began hissing.
Kafka, the New Babylon demon who excelled at sensing changes in other people's emotions, was the first to notice. She blinked and asked, "Elio, what happened? Why are you bristling again?"
Nearby, Silver Wolf sat cross-legged on the sofa with a lollipop in her mouth, playing a handheld game that was currently wildly popular across the cosmos.
She raised her head, revealing a curious expression, and said, "I remember the last time Elio bristled like that was when he observed Herta changing the origin of Terminus, adding a possibility in which Their origin came from an apocalypse of Harmony..."
The Soul Gem hanging at Silver Wolf's waist began flashing violently at that moment, and αWolf's voice sounded.
"Could Herta have done something again?"
"Probably... but even if she did, it shouldn't compare to what we've achieved recently." Silver Wolf's face became smug as she raised a hand and patted the Soul Gem at her waist.
"After all of us joined forces and trained at full strength, I finally gained control over the Silver Wolf LV.999 Cartridge, the power at the pinnacle of Emanators of Elation."
"And after mastering this power, I can feel that if I put in just a bit more effort, I might really be able to achieve another breakthrough and reach a level beyond Silver Wolf LV.999."
"At that point, we'd surpass even the strongest Emanators and move one step closer to the Aeons..."
"Huff."
Just then, Elio finally came back to himself. He drew a deep breath, suppressed all the emotional turbulence in his heart, turned toward Kafka and Silver Wolf, and said, "The reason I bristled just now really was because of Herta. I just received information from Terminus regarding that new Aeon, the Aeon of Spirituality."
Silver Wolf asked curiously, "So who exactly is the Aeon of Spirituality who announced Their existence to the entire universe not long ago?"
αWolf said, "In the world I come from, I've never heard of such an Aeon."
"Yeah, exactly. Who are They?" Stelle walked over from nearby with a curious expression and asked as well.
Blade said nothing, but his gaze had already settled on Elio.
The next moment, Elio spoke.
"The Aeon of Spirituality is Herta. In the future spacetime of Finality, she has already completed her ascension and become a new god—an Aeon!"
!!
Everyone present was stunned by Elio's words.
They could have wracked their brains forever and still never imagined that the one who ascended would turn out to be Herta.
It was unbelievable.
Silver Wolf was especially shaken.
She had originally believed that after she and αWolf had trained at full strength and mastered the power of the Silver Wolf LV.999 Cartridge, she was the person who had improved the most.
Yet she never expected The Herta to simply leap straight into the sky, complete a second self-coronation, and ascend!
To create a Path!
To become yet another existence at the absolute pinnacle of the universe, the embodiment of a concept!
For the present The Herta, joining the Genius Society was no longer an honor.
On the contrary, it was now the Genius Society that needed The Herta in order to prove its own extraordinariness.
Kafka recovered from her shock and said to Elio, "Herta becoming an Aeon wasn't something written into the script, was it?"
"Right. Her very existence has already surpassed the script. The script can no longer bind her."
Elio paused here before continuing, "She is no longer a chess piece beneath the hand of fate. She has leapt out of the chessboard and become a player herself, someone qualified to alter the future trajectory of the universe."
"Likewise, she is now qualified to create a faction of her own, one that guides living beings throughout the universe toward the Path of Spirituality."
Kafka fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then asked, "Elio, can you explain exactly how she managed to ascend so suddenly, without any warning, in such a short span of time?"
"It wasn't without warning." Elio shook his little feline head. "Herta had already researched an enormous number of unimaginable technological projects in the past... This time, she simply completed yet another extraordinary research project, then spent a very long life applying the results of that project until she eventually completed a second self-evolution and ascended into an Aeon!"
A sharp glint flashed through Kafka's eyes. "Elio, you mean Herta recently completed yet another research project, and her future self fully utilized the results of that project until she eventually elevated herself into a god."
"Exactly." Elio nodded. "Aeons possess the characteristic of once proven, forever proven... Although Herta crowned herself for a second time and became an Aeon in the future, her past self—the present Herta—also became Their anchor."
"Thus, the concept of the Path of Spirituality now exists within the present spacetime as well."
Hearing this, Kafka recalled something The Herta had once said when they met on Punklorde.
She had said that she had no limits.
Looking at things now, The Herta truly had not been lying.
Nor had it been an empty boast.
Through research, she had genuinely completed her own ascension and become a god.
Impressive.
Kafka sighed inwardly.
Silver Wolf, meanwhile, also remembered the coronation on Punklorde, when she had imitated Herta and said that she had no limits either.
Yet after all the full-force training she and αWolf had undergone, she had only barely managed to master the Silver Wolf LV.999 Cartridge and acquire the power of a top-tier Emanator of Elation.
But what about Herta?
The last time they spoke over the phone, she had already created giants such as Noa and Zagi, who were destined to become Emanators in the future.
And now she had even become an Aeon.
Granted, she had not become an Aeon in the present era, but in a far more distant future.
However, Elio had just explained that Aeons possessed the characteristic of once proven, forever proven.
Since The Herta had already become an Aeon in the future, that also meant she was capable of wielding Aeon-level power.
Just as Terminus had been able to send her the Silver Wolf LV.999 Cartridge from a different possibility at the pinnacle of Elation back on Punklorde, the future Herta should likewise be capable of sending her power to The Herta of the present spacetime, allowing The Herta to wield power on the level of an Aeon.