Leon was a man of action; no sooner said than done.
If it were any other "Aeon," there might have been a risk of capsizing.
Just like when he "inverted cause and effect" in Amphoreus, Nanook had sensed something, though He didn't care. He had only offered token resistance to show that an Aeon was not to be insulted.
But with "IX," there was absolutely no such worry.
Because He was benevolent—He never meddled in anything.
To Him, everything was meaningless. Since that was the case, why would He bother paying any extra attention?
Thanks to His commitment to "rotting away," Leon was given an opportunity to exploit the void.
Since He wouldn't react anyway, Leon could play however he wanted!
So, what else was there to say—
"Hi~ Bro~"
He started directly with "Bro"!
"You damn bro!"
"Did you open this place all by yourself, bro? Why are you blocking the door here? Don't you think you're in the way, bro? Is being a flowing liquid something to be proud of?"
"Keep acting cool and believe it or not, I'll send you flying, bro!"
Then, he unleashed a combo of moves without standing on ceremony.
Leon had always been polite; he believed in diplomacy before force.
Although this place was indeed opened by "IX," so being in His own home couldn't exactly be counted as being in the way.
But it didn't matter; Leon had asked Him.
He said He had no objections.
If you don't believe it, ask Him yourself and see if He has any objections.
IX: Children, I have no objections.
Since he was already here, and he couldn't have unleashed all that for nothing—he had fed this little glutton "IX" until He was full—what was wrong with grabbing some souvenirs to take back on the way?
"?"
"IX" stared with His small eyes, looking completely bewildered.
It was the first time He had actively felt an emotion like "bewilderment."
Those beady eyes shifted away from the dark purple flowing liquid that resembled a black hole.
They landed on the source, which was Leon.
"#÷@%×/&%/"
He looked at Leon and let out a "Hoo-hoo-oh-oh-oh" that was indistinguishable from the whispers of an Old God.
Authentic "Nihility" accent!
There are many god-like people in the world; let the true and false "IX" speak.
"IX" complied. He decided to give the anchor point of this "Nihility" to Leon.
He needed to hurry up and send this stinking out-of-towner away.
After sending him off, He could continue to change to another bridge underpass and cover Himself with a small blanket.
Sigh. Acheron and Zephyro had worked conscientiously for "IX" for so long, only to have Leon, who suddenly appeared, pluck the peach of victory. It was truly hard to reconcile.
Fear not, children; the DoT savior is here!
No need to wait for the next dawn.
The sky is already about to brighten!
...
...
The full-force clash between the two Emanators of "The Nihility" ground this world down to the point where the Great Dao was obliterated.
"To be able to walk such a distance within 'The Nihility' is truly rare. If you can maintain your original heart and walk a while longer, you may not necessarily be unable to defeat me."
Zephyro's originally pitch-black right side had already been dyed crimson. He gave a considerably high evaluation of Acheron's strength, seemingly an acknowledgment of her.
"...You have not won yet."
Acheron's right hand gripping the blade was originally a vivid red, but now it was covered in a pale white.
Although she had wounded Zephyro, she hadn't gained much advantage from His hands either.
Despite the calm tone,
Both of them were actually in a sorry state. It was merely a difference of the pot calling the kettle black.
"But the one to lose will definitely be you."
Zephyro spoke with considerable certainty, as if the wounds on His body hadn't brought Him any harm at all.
Acheron remained silent, simply looking at Him with eyes that did not accept the result He spoke of.
This kind of stalemate.
In fact, Acheron had already anticipated it when they started fighting.
She couldn't do anything to Zephyro, but for Zephyro to defeat her within a short period of time...
That was also no easy task.
Because both were taught by the same master; neither could break the other's moves.
"Nihility" against "Nihility"—no one could say for sure who would gain the upper hand.
The characteristics of "The Nihility" were all targeted outwardly.
Internally, it only depended on whose technique was more exquisite and whose control was more proficient.
Judging from the results, the martial arts and strength of the two were equally matched.
But judging from seniority, Acheron won by a slight margin.
Zephyro was a Self-Annihilator who had existed for an unknown length of time. For Acheron, a rising star, to draw with Him...
This was already enough to demonstrate her potential.
"Are you waiting for that heavenly general?"
Zephyro saw through her intentions.
"If he has really reached the end, then why do you think he can come?"
Since Leon hadn't appeared yet, Zephyro felt he was likely in grave danger.
"Both you and I know best what exactly lies at that end."
Indeed, there were few "Emanators" in this world who could defeat Leon.
"The Formless Sleeper, or a more common name."
But what about an "Aeon"?
"—The Aeon of 'The Nihility'."
Given Leon's temperament, assuming he really went to the end,
He should already be charging at "IX" by now.
Like a moth to a flame, courting its own destruction.
Zephyro could only evaluate this behavior in such a way because He had experienced it personally.
As Zephyro the Self-Annihilator,
He, too, had once tried to charge at "IX's" divine body in the past.
The result need not be said; He failed.
If "Nanook" hadn't lifted up the dying Him and given Him a second life with "The Destruction," He would no longer exist now.
Only an "Aeon" can oppose an "Aeon."
Zephyro knew this quite clearly.
And precisely because "Nanook" let Him see a future where "IX" was destroyed, Zephyro chose to pledge loyalty to the the Wounded God.
At the end where there is nothing left to destroy,
He would fly into "IX's" divine body once again, and then, with a beam of violent white...
Pierce through the deepest, bottomless darkness!
It was true that Leon was the number one person under the "Aeons," but that didn't mean he truly had the qualifications to pick a fight with an "Aeon."
Beneath the "Aeons," all are ants; this was no joke.
Because Zephyro's second challenge would also only be undertaken when all things were destroyed.
Before that, He still had a long way to go.
The first priority was the "Coronation."
Zephyro understood best the difficulty of killing one's way out of "IX's" divine body.
Right now, unless Leon was hacking,
Zephyro couldn't imagine how he could win.
"You underestimated him, and you also underestimated me."
Acheron assumed the opening stance with her blade and replied.
"See the truth under the hands."
Zephyro told her to prove it with strength.
Acheron's expression was grave as she dealt with this traitorous colleague with one hundred and twenty percent focus.
If discussing only "The Nihility," their raw strength was actually about the same.
A sixty-forty split: Zephyro six, Acheron four.
But in an actual fight, it was a seventy-thirty split.
Because there was still a difference of one "Path" between them.
The distance Zephyro had walked on "The Nihility" was that of an "Emanator," but at the same time, He was also a Lord Ravager belonging to "The Destruction."
This was also the reason Acheron found it difficult to fight.
She could use "The Nihility" to cancel out "The Destruction," but her output wasn't enough to let her face two Paths.
After "The Destruction," there was still "The Nihility."
Not to mention Zephyro's technique was superb; He wrapped "The Destruction" within "The Nihility."
It was impossible to defeat them individually.
From this method alone, one could see Zephyro's power.
As well as His ridiculously high mastery of the Paths.
If both could only achieve a slight weakening, then what was the difference from not weakening at all?
"The evening rain shall finally fall!"
Acheron took a deep breath, and spots of rain suddenly fell from the top of this space.
Drip, drop, drip, drop.
The evening rain created by the power of Nihility grew heavier, and the speed of the drops became increasingly rapid.
It beat against Acheron's body, yet her clothes were not wet in the slightest.
But falling on Zephyro...
It issued "sizzling" sounds of evaporation, beginning to erode various parts of His body.
"Do not look back; there is no path to go on the way you came!"
The blade of "Naught" was empowered by the evening rain, the scarlet glow on her body becoming increasingly bright.
For this strike, Acheron brought out her full power!
"The sun has already risen at the end of time."
Zephyro brought out an identical momentum, giving this respectable opponent the utmost respect.
The golden flames of "The Destruction" covered the sword's body.
The pale white of "The Nihility" flickered on the blade's edge.
Acheron's evening rain was instantly dispersed by this colossal power!
The two merged into one, and an unstoppable aura appeared immediately!
If not for the special nature of this world, the mere aftershocks of the two could have easily annihilated a planet.
This was the full effort of two Emanators of "The Nihility"!
Victory and defeat lay entirely within this single clash of blades!
...
In the depths of "The Nihility."
"This road... is really a bit far..."
The further they went in, the greater the pressure the two felt.
Even Hysilens was struggling, let alone Frebass.
"Your name is... Hysilens, right?"
Frebass's voice under the diving helmet held a bit more sluggishness.
"I remember... you are also a Nameless?"
"Yes."
Hysilens nodded, then fell into silence again.
The reason was none other than that the "color" on Frebass's body was gradually fading.
Her diving suit, which was originally so brightly colored,
Now presented a meaningless gray-white.
This was the sign of being eroded by "The Nihility."
This little Nameless from Tyre had ultimately lost in front of "IX's" divine power.
"If... I'm just saying if."
Frebass tried hard not to forget the goal for which she had set sail.
"If I can't witness the end..."
Frebass's voice already carried a sense of trance.
"Could you please take my share to the end of this road, and take a look at that legendary world for me, and for Akivili?"
She reached out, fished a compass from her bosom, and handed it to Hysilens.
Hysilens took it.
The compass in her hand was very plain and unadorned. If one had to say it had any special feature...
It was that the magnetic needle on it had been removed.
This was the last birthday gift her mother had left her when Frebass was fourteen.
The reason she removed the magnetic needle was that she heard the entire world was composed of ownerless energy.
She felt that as long as the compass sensed not a magnetic field,
But energy,
Then it would allow her to smoothly identify the direction after stepping into "The Nihility."
Hysilens looked at the needle that kept pointing downward.
Whether Frebass's plan was successful in the end need not be said.
They had no road back; they could only continue to fall.
"Of course, this is all just an 'if'."
Frebass took a deep breath, maintaining the maximum degree of clarity she currently could.
"Don't worry. The probability of the 'if' happening is very small, because I swore an oath to walk a path deeper and farther than Akivili!"
Frebass held on forcefully.
"My... name... is... Frebass..."
She kept repeating her ideal and name, as if she didn't want to let herself forget.
But the effect was minimal; the "Nihility" on her body advanced instead of retreating.
"Let's... go..."
Frebass insisted on continuing forward.
Hysilens looked at her back, saying nothing.
"Do we really... have to continue?"
Frebass's condition was visibly deteriorating.
If they continued to walk, the probability of her falling halfway was much greater than reaching the end.
But if they stopped here, Frebass could still persist for a while longer.
If they didn't walk, when Leon came, he would definitely have a way to solve all of this.
Just as he saved Amphoreus.
Hysilens had always believed this.
"Of course. Even if our ending is already destined..."
Frebass shook her head. She had long been prepared to fall here.
"But just as Acheron said—"
"Even if I eventually turn into a shallow pool of stagnant water, there are still many things I can do on the road toward that moment. So no matter what, I must try!"
Once these words were spoken, the "Nihility" on Frebass's body finally receded a few degrees.
Although it was better than nothing, this undoubtedly allowed her to persist for a while longer.
Hysilens lowered her eyelids, involuntarily clenching her palm.
Frebass was in imminent danger, and the situation on Acheron's side was likely not good either.
What should she do? What could she do to help the two of them?
Hysilens, Halicra... this Golden Progeny had always been an existence in need of leadership.
Her "Nihility" was forged from the past.
Phagina, the Ocean Titan, the Queen of Sirens, and also her mother. In Amphoreus,
She was the first to resist "The Destruction."
Pitch-black tides overflowed in the sea.
Phagina, the Overflowing Cup.
She thought that by herself alone, she could drink that "Black Tide" from beyond the heavens in one gulp.
But in the end, She failed. How could a tiny Titan oppose the mighty power of Destruction?
Unable to hold on, Phagina handed this responsibility to her subjects. As the God of Feasts, She promised the Sirens that once the Titan of Strife took over the responsibility of resisting the Black Tide,
They could retire.
The city-states on the ground would surely hold an endless banquet for them as heroes.
This promise became the inner support for the Sirens, including Hysilens.
Her sisters sacrificed their lives one after another.
Eroded by the Black Tide, they became those detestable Creations of Destruction that overturned their homeland.
Before anyone realized it, only one sober Siren remained on the seabed.
That was Hysilens.
"I dreamed that on the ground, the world sang of the Sirens' merits in protecting the world. We likely won't be able to see that day. Please sing for humanity on our behalf, sing the legend of the deep sea."
Carrying her sisters' vision, Hysilens came to the shore.
But the endless banquet promised by Phagina was not here.
The sisters' expectations, the Queen's promise.
They were all like dreams and bubbles, all becoming void in an instant.
It was also at that time that Hysilens fell into "The Nihility."
There was no feast on the shore as Phagina had spoken of.
Then what meaning was there in her sisters' sacrifices and everything she had done?
For a time, she didn't know in what manner she should exist in this pitch-black world.
She became a wandering, lost fish.
It was also at this time that she met Cerydra.
She found a cluster of scorching hot firelight and became the sword-banner of this blue flame.
Caesar promised a future.
Thus, Hysilens began to live by her vision as well.
Hysilens might be the person who most wished for this Feast of Chasing Fire to never adjourn.
Because now that everything had ended in Amphoreus, she didn't know whose vision she should live for anymore.
She lived for Phagina's promise at the very beginning, and then for her sisters' vision.
Until Leon came, she lived for Cerydra.
So what about now? Continue for Cerydra?
But as the saying goes, the times make the hero.
She only stood up when no one else would; it didn't mean she truly had that vision.
As Caesar's most loyal sword-banner,
How could Hysilens not know?
Cerydra was not obsessed with conquest; she only had to stand up for this sorrowful Amphoreus.
Although Cerydra always spoke of the goal of conquering the Star Ocean, if someone could shoulder the responsibility of the monarch for her, she might prefer to roam the four seas and make friends through chess.
Now, as a Nameless, Cerydra no longer needed to continue playing the role of some tyrant.
Hysilens lost her goal for a moment. Could it be that she had to live for herself?
But what was her own wish?
An endless banquet?
If it was that, then she should have stayed in Amphoreus.
Then, in the final analysis, was it still Cerydra?
But Hysilens didn't want her to reclaim the name of Caesar and destroy the self that was a Nameless.
What exactly should she live for?
For a moment, Hysilens could not obtain an answer.
She could only shift her gaze, like grasping at a life-saving straw, to the existence closest to her besides Cerydra—that Savior from beyond the heavens.
Leon became the existence she used to anchor herself.
Perhaps it was turning to any doctor in illness.
But if she didn't do this,
Hysilens, who always placed herself in a low position,
Would turn back into that wandering, lost fish.
What a fish needed, ultimately, was just an ocean where she could dwell.
"Save us again... if it's you, you should be able to do it..."
Hysilens muttered to herself, her clenched palm relaxing.
The person who could save her, save Acheron, save Frebass.
The only one who could be relied upon was Leon.
"Then, let's try it!"
Hysilens revealed a resolute expression, as if she had made some determination.
A Siren's song could always help lost travelers find the correct direction.
As a Pathstrider of "The Nihility," she could naturally make "The Nihility" serve her as well.
In this land of "Nihility,"
Only Hysilens could transmit their plight to Leon by virtue of her special nature.
To seek help through this.
The "Causality" of Amphoreus was entirely tied to Leon. Relying on this relationship closely related to the Aeon of "Remembrance," she was sufficient to contend with "IX"!
There might be a price, or there might not.
The method Hysilens used to oppose "The Nihility" was the existence of the person Leon.
So, before he came, before seeing him.
She absolutely would not lose to "The Nihility"!
And whether she would be directly defeated by the hands of "IX" after he came...
Would depend entirely on whether Leon could redeem his previous promise.
Hysilens took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
After preparing herself mentally,
She emptied her mind and fell backward.
With a splash, she plunged into this Sea of "Nihility."
Born as a Siren, she was born a vessel of the tides.
Since that was the case, then this Sea of "Nihility" was not something that couldn't be used by her!
"The Nihility" invaded Hysilens' mind.
She was somewhat in a trance for a moment; all past events surfaced in her mind in this instant.
Halicra the Siren, Hysilens the Golden Progeny, and now her as a Nameless—three distinct experiences superimposed together.
Hysilens wondered, did everything really have meaning?
Did her life up to now really have meaning?
Hysilens didn't know; she simply opened her mouth instinctively.
A graceful singing voice rose elegantly, echoing within this Sea of "Nihility."
Pointing out the path to all directions, just like a lighthouse.
She was forgetting everything.
But fortunately, before completely forgetting everything, she could still do one last thing.
Hysilens was not born with a good singing voice.
As the price for her bravery and skill in battle, the Law Titan Talanton took away her singing voice.
It was Phagina who couldn't bear to see Her princess so distressed, so she used something else on Her body as an exchange to alter the content of the contract with Talanton.
She regained the singing voice a Siren should have,
But in return, she could never again enjoy a joyous banquet soberly to the end.
Everything has a price.
So, just like the previous two times.
This time would be no exception.
Hysilens used her existence, her entire life up to now.
—To exchange with "The Nihility" for one chance to sing!
She only hoped that her voice could truly reach him.
Hysilens thought this from the bottom of her heart as her consciousness gradually dissipated.
_____
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