IdleYoungMaster
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Chapter 291: Against the Flow of Time
🕑 Added 2025-05-18 09:02:42 +0000 UTC“I have fulfilled your orders. You wished for me to have a real body. Using the sub-skill [Projection] to copy my voice’s origin, sub-skill [Synthesize] to create a physical body, and the position as your Scribe, I have succeeded.”
Metatron’s narrated everything in a flat tone. The words “I” triggered an emotional fluctuation, however.
“Well…”
Aleph simply nodded. He wasn’t dumb. He did recall how many times he muttered how good it was if Metatron had a physical body. She was someone who was with him since his early days on Fire MOTH. It wasn’t wrong to say that she was present alongside him throughout his journey.
Be it compiling large chunks of information, analyzing countless years’ worth of inheritance inside the Sanctum, or even researching the plausibility of combining two power systems together…
Simply put, she is the best assistant he could wish for.
Aleph caught a word from her.
“Scribe? That was the reward I gave you. What did it do?”
“Answer. I have not yet completed its full analysis. Speculations with the largest probable cause are as follows:
One, the position of a Scribe is directly related to you.
Two, it mirrors the position held by ‘Metatron’ on the Abrahamic God.
Three, it allows me to bypass and access your authorities, except for Infinity, when you are unresponsive in imminent danger.
Four, it is responsible for the continuing increase of my processing power.”
He felt a bit strange hearing Metatron’s typical explanations. She currently looks 200% similar to Prometheus. It was akin to seeing a girl acting as a robot.
“Abrahamic God…”
Aleph wasn’t blind to this. He knew his Infinity paralleled the Abrahamic God in his previous life. Though, it wasn’t a full-on copy. His ‘infinite adaptations’, ‘infinite enhancements’, ‘infinite probabilities’, and the likes are something not present.
Nevertheless, this comparison does help in analyzing the [Scribe] reward.
“If I am moving towards a similar position as Him… Metatron will become my right hand.”
It is important to know that while he was thinking about his future, the said girl carried on with rubbing her face on his chest. It reminded him of someone else.
‘Did she watch me and Kurumi together..?’
Metatron wasn’t a problem before. She was just a Unique Skill at that time.
It is different now.
Just then, several knocks rang on his door.
“Aleph?”
It was Hua’s voice.
With a survival instinct of a navy seal, Aleph placed both his hands on Metatron’s armpits. He stood up as he carried her to the bedside. She was like a kitten during the entire process, merely staring at his eyes.
Just like that, the previous scene was covered up.
“Go in.”
The moment Hua saw him on the bed with another girl, she gave him an inquiring look.
“Ahem, Hua. Meet my Ultimate Skill, Metatron.”
*****
Aleph’s current power allowed him to break the imaginary barrier on Earth completely. Through that, he would be able to carve a pathway back to the real universe.
Only, he felt a few things are still missing. That was why he decided to stay in this parallel universe for a while. The three things he had to accomplish were drawn.
First, the Stellaron Hunters. Their leader, Elio, is directly related to Finality. If meeting with them fails, Aleph still has an option to see the woman on Penacony, who was also related to Finality.
Second, Remembrance. Aleph is certain they hold some useful ‘memories’ far beyond the scope of others. They might play a role in overturning Finality’s test.
Third, the Astral Express. To be more specific, Akivili. Their fall was extremely mysterious. The later versions of the game hinted how it was related to Finality. Bosenmori Mei was also related to them.
With these three strong cases, Aleph began plotting. The easiest one was the Stellaron Hunters, followed by the Astral Express.
It was needless to say for the former. As for the latter…
“Special Pass…”
Currently, Aleph stood at the center of the gray world. It was a place with no gray fog, as if it was left for something else.
Ein Sof.
‘I’ll deal with it after this.’
Soon, the gray world turned into the endless sea of stars. Under Aleph’s manipulation, he ‘backtracked’ time itself. The entire world moved in reverse.
It did not take long for the Astral Express to reappear in his sight.
Its passenger cars were burning. Long cracks appeared all over its body. Its wheels are covered in a mixture of frost and earth. Its sight was extremely eerie.
“Hum.”
Aleph drew a circle with his finger. Everything else but the Astral Express froze. The special Star Rail pass in his grasp became more covered with gray fog.
The train itself was swiftly being rewound.
Click-!
After passing a certain point, all its damages disappeared.
“...No. There’s nothing here.”
Half-expecting to see Finality’s traces, Aleph found nothing. Aside from some Astral Express crew who are alive, there was nothing else. He tried his best to reverse history up to a hundred thousand years ago, but to no avail.
Not once did he see Akivili’s presence. Even the supposed ‘conductor’ did not appear.
“If it’s not the past, then…”
The answer lies in the future.
Zoom-!
The Astral Express underwent changes. Its previous appearance with severe damages appeared once again. The damages gnawed on the Astral Express until a red-haired woman came across it.
After thirty years, she was able to repair it to a functional state. What followed next was her travels across the stars, meeting Welt Yang, then a pink-haired girl, then Xianzhou’s dragon elder…
Aleph’s body turned into a gray-white figure. The light of Infinity glowed upon him. He is bestowing his power to see the Express’ future. His light counters Finality, thereby shedding any false history drawn in front of Him.
That included the memory he once sealed.
‘It’s fine thinking about it when Infinity’s fully active. I can hide my thoughts in this state.’
This discovery did not hinder Aleph’s original intention.
The Astral Express moved forward;
From their journey on the snow-capped planet;
To the bustling Aurum Alley of Xianzhou Luofu;
To the captivating dreamscape on Penacony;
To the Eternal Land of Heroes;
To the ‘always second choice’ Washtopia…
One by one, each version he played appeared in front of him. The entirety of the game he knew, a total of twenty version updates, stirred up waves of memories.
Zoom-!
Before he knew it, he saw the Astral Express converge into a point of dazzling light. The entire train disappeared. What replaced it was a tall woman in front of him. Her messy gray hair reminded Aleph of the times she scavenged trash cans like a raccoon.
“Hehe, this is flattering…”
Her signature head rub whilst confused cemented her identity.
She was the Trailblazer, and at the same time, the concept of Akivili.
“You must have a reason for calling the Galactic Baseballer. What is it?”
Across space and time, Aleph talked to a dead Aeon.
