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Chapter 195: Instance End
🕑 Added 2025-02-08 16:24:45 +0000 UTCComplex information, as its name suggests, works in a complicated manner. It was not straightforward compared to normal battles.
Fire does not necessarily burn;
Water does not necessarily extinguish;
Life does not necessarily heal;
Destruction does not necessarily destroy.
Nihility’s purpose is to declare meaninglessness. It results in a secondary effect, which was to ‘destroy’. However, it does not end on that. It could negate injuries which falls on “healing”.
Such was the complexity of powers involving Gods.
Looking at the place where Aleph once stood, Acheron did not say anything. The wonders of their power brought her, who was a manifestation of the future, into the present.
She does not represent the ‘present’ Acheron; merely a possibility of her.
“...Was it possible?”
She could not help but mutter.
Her fingers traced the torn portion of the Horizon of Existence. The pure black backdrop was torn apart, replaced by a gray light. It was particularly eye-catching within this space.
Consequently, Acheron saw bright gray lines spread all over her body. Only her treasured blade escaped from this, but not unscathed.
She recalled the moment when their blades clashed.
Her authority over the Path of Nihility was second only to the Aeon themselves. She could draw power from it. In most cases, it was enough to overwhelm and defeat the enemy. The Emanators of each Path were few and far between.
Nobody could have thought that an Emanator fought a person who did not even follow a Path, more so when the said person held power equal to an Aeon’s. The sheer intensity behind Aleph’s attack—a dazzling light tinted with numerous powers—dealt with her own attack. It was the first time their powers did not work against someone.
“If meaninglessness was proven wrong… will we find a meaning?”
Aleph’s final strike placed the Horizon into a considerable strain. It would not be broken as Nihility would ironically restore the place—rendering all efforts to destroy it meaningless.
It was different for Acheron. She was but an avatar brought out by them. Even without her injuries… her ‘peer’ was no longer here.
Her existence no longer bears any meaning.
The final thing she could remember was the look he gave her.
“You may find your answer…”
Clang-!
Her treasured blade fell to the ground as her body started disappearing.
“...Ain.”(Infinity.)
*****
Three minutes.
That was how long until Izumo’s headquarters noticed the huge commotion over the sea. The field personnel could only arrive within the next ten minutes. They could only watch the situation via the satellite orbiting in their atmosphere.
“What was that..?”
“There are no Divine Power readings. It’s zero.”
“Was it broken? How could it be?!”
Their reactions could be divided into three: the rational ones, the disbelieving ones, and the ones who stared blankly on the screen.
It wasn’t unknown when, but a huge change appeared out of nowhere. The ones who blinked missed it out, while the ones who saw it happen thought they were dreaming.
Their detection instruments were eerily silent. There were no signs of rumbling nor shockwaves.
All they saw was half of the ocean water disappearing out of thin air. The islands within the vicinity of the huge ‘sphere’ of water that disappeared could not be found. It was as if somebody scooped half of the ocean while they weren’t looking.
“It was… You know, the same as the incident a week ago.”
“You mean… the disappearance of that city?”
Many of them stared at the divine power readings and found nothing. It was an eerie scenario that occurred out of thin air. It was either they could not detect the divine power used to do such a thing… or their cognitions weren’t worthy of even knowing it.
“We must be living in a horror book…”
An hour later, Mei received these findings.
“It was father first then… Sir Aleph.”
She had a hunch that it was most likely related to what her father experienced. His disappearance out of thin air reminded her of the city that disappeared in a blink of an eye. Aleph was the only person who knew why it happened.
Unfortunately, he did not tell her much about it… or not.
Hum.
She stopped walking as she looked incredulously at the man, no, phantom in front of her. Passerbys walked over this image as if only Mei could see him.
It was none other than Aleph.
“Ahem. I should have left this world by the time you see this.” He did not forget to add, “Yes, I am not dead yet. I hope you won’t act recklessly…”
The familiar nagging took away most of the heaviness Mei felt. Knowing he did not die was a huge thing… at least for her.
“Unlike me, you can play the long game… maybe. It won’t be an issue to master the techniques I gave you, but…”
In this way, Aleph was still able to walk alongside Mei.
*****
“Ugh…”
Aleph expected the grogginess to come, only to feel nothing. He was in his pristine state.
He looked around and found nothing had changed. He was still in the same basement level in the third institute. He was seated on the same chair with an additional black blanket on his lap. The glove that exposed the back of his hand was still there along with the nine-petaled pattern from before.
Aleph paid attention to the dozen or so prompts in his sight. These could be divided into two: achievements and rewards from the instance.
[Instance Complete.]
[Rating: S+]
[Basic Rewards: Random Pass, Perfect Energy Box (5), Pathstrider Slot (3), Izumo Gensei Ornament Set, Mist, Frost, Flare…]
[Additional Rewards: Perfect Energy Box (5), Thought, Bind, Maw, Fragment of Nihility]
Aside from the fifteen things he brought out, most of which were the equivalents of PRI-Arms, his gains on Izumo were dazzling.
“Six Sentinels…” He looked speechlessly at the reward panel. “Fragment of Nihility… don’t tell me it’s similar to the fragment of Finality that Kevin had.”
Aleph hissed at the thought of Nihility. The power he faced during that battle rendered most of his means useless. Had it not been for the light—a supposed power of his—he would have gone down without a fight.
It was then did he remember a crucial point.
"Finality... There's not a single trace of it."
His elemental sight fed him information regarding Nihility, but that was all. He expected to see Finality's presence throughout his three weeks of stay, but Aleph did not see anything. It was as if there was no such thing as Finality in the first place.
"Aside from Finality... The indescribable light..!" He muttered. “That’s right. I have a feeling it upgraded everything.”
The light with countless colors did not act on its own. What it did was to ‘upgrade’ the powers he already has to the same level as Nihility. It was just that Aleph wasn’t strong enough to wield it without his body collapsing.
Summoning Albion’s full strength alone could make his body disappear and destroy an entire planet.
If that light was summoned in its full glory…
“Can I defeat everything..?”
