The feeling of zero-gravity assaulted Hua's senses.
It was similar to slipping and falling into the ground. Only, the place where she fell was outer space.
No splashes of water were heard, yet she felt her entire body sinking into the "water".
Before she could regain control of her body, Hua felt a hand grasping hers. It stopped her from floating upwards.
The moment her hand was held, Hua's thoughts became still. The panic and doubts she brought over were washed away like a tide.
Hua saw a breath-taking sight amidst everything.
"This is…"
Fireworks exploded in the night sky, painting it with numerous different colors. No sounds came to her ears, though she was able to 'hear' the explosions in a strange state.
This reminded her of New Year celebrations. She used to stroll across the food stalls in the afternoon before lighting up the small strings of sparklers somewhere secluded. The grand finale was the city-wide fireworks display that was noisy enough to shake everyone awake.
That memory was one of the few things she cherished.
Never had she expected to see a sight that overlaps with it now.
"Still caught up with your thoughts?"
It was then did Hua notice someone. Amidst the breathtaking sight, there was a familiar man who held her hand. She had forgotten the grasp on her right hand. The familiar voice as well as his appearance woke her up completely.
"...Aleph."
He pulled her down to his side. Strangely enough, the zero-gravity environment disappeared the moment her feet touched the transparent ground.
The same happened for Senti who held Aleph's left hand. They were shocked to the point they could not speak for a while.
It did not take long for the white door they passed through to dissipate. Only the breathtaking sight similar to fireworks—a star's supernova—remained.
Nevertheless, that backdrop was not as important as Aleph to the two girls. The latter took the time to stare at him.
The changes Aleph went through was nothing short of drastic. His entire body was emitting a soft white glow of light. An eight-pointed halo made of pure white light floated atop his head.
Just by standing, he emitted an aura of standing above all.
"I knew you would look good in an emperor's fit!"
The Herrscher of Sentience commented while proudly crossing her arms.
However, her carefree words caused Aleph's mouth to twitch. He started to feel embarrassed yet again.
As if it wasn't enough, she added yet another "jab".
"We're not mistaken to add you as the Heavenly Emperor of the myths."
"...You what?"
While establishing the connection between this parallel world and the "true" world, Aleph did not spend any time analyzing irrelevant information. He was focused on his goal, and as such, he only knew of the general outline of how the parallel world went.
He was kept in the dark regarding the smaller details such as this.
"Jingwei is the designated Tianzi (Destiny's Chosen One) sent down by the Tiandi (Heavenly Emperor) to maintain order amongst the six realms."
Senti recited the legends made by Nuwa word-by-word. This left an incredulous feeling to Aleph, feeling a mix of embarrassment and cringe. This served to create a crack to his ethereal aura.
He massaged his eyes with his right hand as the aura he emitted slowly converged back to himself. The eight-pointed halo was retained. It was one of the solutions he and Metatron thought in regards to his True Form.
Since Aeons are rejected by the physical world, they had to choose a point where Aleph was half-transformed into his true state. It resulted in the birth of this eight-pointed white halo that allowed him to exert sixty percent of his true strength.
"...Heavenly decree was imposed…"
"You memorized every single bit of line in there…"
"Humph. I'm not the type to forget things."
Her words caused Aleph's mouth to twitch for the second time.
'It's the unhinged Hua…'
Senti's personality was the complete opposite of Hua's. If the latter had the tendency to contain her doubts to herself, the former was straightforward with her thoughts. Whatever she had in mind, she would most likely tell outwardly.
Of course, that requires someone whom she trusts wholeheartedly.
Aleph is one of them.
"...Are you alright?"
Hua broke her silence.
"Yeah. I keep my promises well. I won't die somewhere without returning."
Aleph regained a portion of his usual liveliness. As if he was infected by Senti's energy, he went back to his smug self.
"Some things happened. I could only bring you two for now." He said. "Let's talk more about it later. This isn't an appropriate place."
The two belatedly realized where they were.
"Outer space? We're outside Earth?!"
"Are these stars?"
Aleph answered their questions slowly.
"Yeah. We're in outer space. As for our distance to Earth… It's about thirty trillion kilometers. And yes, these are stars. The light that you saw, on the other hand, was something I caused."
A brief thought came to his mind.
'What if I surprise them..?'
Playfulness got a hold of him.
"I forgot to tell you two. Right before the fight with the Cocoon… I became a God."
It produced the results he foresaw.
*****
Perpetuity.
It was the newest Path accessible to the explored universe. The birth of an Aeon was an event that will be recorded throughout eons. This Path garnered an unprecedented amount of attention since its appearance.
"Perpetuity."
"Perpetuity."
"The unchanging nature…"
…
The countless living beings each had their interpretation and guesses towards this Path.
Although, there was one thing confirmed after its appearance.
It was a Path that could not be easily accessed. Its requirements remain unknown as of the moment.
Some speculate it was as harmful as diving into Nihility. There were also others who used Erudition's influence to locate their origins.
Shockingly, it worked partially.
Nous spat out information related to Perpetuity to its Pathstriders.
"The unchanging state… This does sound familiar, hm."
The Genius Society was an organization built to connect the pinnacle of prodigies throughout the explored universe. Its members were chosen by Nous themselves.
Coupled with Erudition's assistance, many of these brilliant minds left their mark in this vast cosmos.
One such person was Member Number 83, most known as "The Herta".
"Ah. Lord of Silence."
Her mind worked to close the gaps in her thinking. An intangible domain expanded within her. It was not something that does not affect the real world. It was a cognitive state imagined as a "realm" of sorts known as the "Circle of Knowledge".
"It is logical to see this Pathway being assimilated to Permanence, yet there are no reactions whatsoever…"
Aeons with similar Paths are guaranteed to "clash" and assimilate with one another. Perpetuity and Permanence seems to bear the same concept, and as such, assimilation should have been the end result.
The most probable possibility in her mind left Herta sighing.
"A confirmation of an Aeon's death is good enough, I suppose."
Just then, a gaze descended upon her.
*****
A/N: Quick reminder. Not everything they think of is necessarily factual. More questions will be answered in the next chapter ;)