Seeing Ron regain his former confidence and vigor, a faint smile couldn't help but touch the corners of Herta's lips.
But the smile vanished as quickly as it came. She turned her head away slightly, ignoring Ron's outstretched hand and reverting to her usual aloof demeanor, taking the opportunity to knock him down a peg.
"We haven't even started yet, and we're still a long way from success. You're this happy already? Do you want me to bring you a bottle of champagne to celebrate?"
Hearing Herta's seemingly sarcastic words, Ron simply shook his head with an amused smile.
He knew Herta held no ill will... Though she always sounded a bit prickly, it was actually her unique way of showing concern.
She was just afraid that Ron would get carried away by a sudden, inexplicable burst of joy, so she used these biting words to ground him.
Before, Ron might have felt a bit uncomfortable, but after witnessing Herta's raw and direct display of emotion just now, nothing she said could hurt him.
Too shy to show your concern directly? What a little tsundere, Herta.
Ron snarked internally, but for the sake of Herta's pride, he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he responded with a light chuckle.
"When have you ever seen me pop the champagne at halftime, Herta?"
"Now is truly a time to be happy... because They've shown their fear, Herta."
As Ron spoke, an irrepressible smile danced in his eyes.
"Regardless of which Aeons are plotting against us from behind the scenes, and regardless of what the Life Simulation Game itself truly represents, their methods have revealed that they are not, in fact, in control of everything..."
"You must have also noticed that my reaction just now was a bit off... That wasn't my true intention. It was a strange influence from the rewards of the Life Simulation Game, an influence that directly affected my very thoughts."
"This influence was realized through the power of [Salvation]... but with your help, my consciousness broke through that weak hold and returned to normal. Only then could I see what was wrong with my logic while I was being influenced."
"Tell me... since every simulation in the game is a reality that has happened, a reset of the world time and again, and we just couldn't perceive the end of each world, are the rewards we gain from it truly bestowed by the Life Simulation Game?"
Ron snapped his fingers. A small, brilliant golden flame ignited at his fingertip, then obediently licked his skin.
The sacred fire of [Salvation] danced gently on his fingertips, completely under his control.
"Take this power of [Salvation]... did it spring into existence from nothing, created by the power of the King of [The End], or is it the brand-new Path that the 'me' from the simulation forged with his own life?"
As he spoke, Ron casually extinguished the flame in his hand. This power was completely at his command, to be summoned and dismissed at will.
"I think... this is by no means the power of the King of [The End], but rather the true legacy left behind by me from before the last world reset."
"After all, if the King of [The End] could truly and thoroughly control everything, It probably wouldn't need to go through such a huge rigmarole and use all sorts of petty tricks to influence me..."
"I have to say, Its performance earlier really made me think It was just a cold, unthinking program, an [End] without its own consciousness... But since the rewards from the game are deliberately influencing my thoughts, then the King of [The End] cannot possibly be without intelligence."
"As it stands now, It is likely trapped on the divine throne of [The End], constantly trying to reach out and find someone to take Its place."
"It may be orchestrating the fate of this entire sea of stars, but it is only fate—It has not yet been born. To influence reality, It even needs to use something like the Life Simulation Game. It has almost no means of taking direct action."
"Even within the simulations, It shows great difficulty when trying to intervene personally. Beyond some key information, It is powerless to perceive anything, blocked by the vast river of time..."
"Come to think of it, that makes sense—after all, It is [The End], gazing at the present from the far end of time's river. What can It truly see?"
"No matter how powerful It is, trying to move against the flow of time, to trace back to the present and act personally, is likely an unimaginably difficult task..."
"That's why It wants me to give up resisting on my own, to use these methods of deception to make me obediently take Its place and become the new [The End] for this sea of stars."
Listening to Ron's words, Herta nodded thoughtfully.
"Indeed... If the King of [The End] truly controlled everything, we, sitting here discussing how to topple Its game, would have probably been wiped clean by now."
"But there is one problem, Ron... The King of [The End] may have difficulty observing the current world from the future's end, but if we truly make a move on the Tree of Existence, as the embodiment of the Tree, the King of [The End] would probably know our actions in an instant."
"No matter what plan you have... we have to solve this problem first."
Herta frowned slightly, raising a question.
"How should we do it... Shroud the King of [The End] in a veil, plug Its ears, and render It deaf, dumb, and blind to the world?"
But faced with this extremely practical problem, Ron showed no pressure at all.
He just smiled mysteriously and replied cryptically.
"After so many simulations, I've discovered that some who appear to be helping me are actually guiding me towards [The End]."
"Some are watching from the sidelines. While they haven't really helped me, they have no intention of kicking me while I'm down and letting me become the new [The End]."
"And there are some who have been obstructing me all along... Perhaps they are the ones who are truly willing to help me, my true 'friends'."
"Friends?"
Herta frowned, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.
"You mean... which Aeon? How are we supposed to find them?"
"We don't need to find them... because when we started talking about the King of [The End], they already came here personally to erase this 'secret'."
As Ron spoke, a brilliant golden light ignited in his pupils. He then turned his head slightly, looking at the empty air beside him.
The originally empty space was suddenly painted with a touch of elegant rose.
A hazy, dark current emerged from the air, and a rose-colored mist precipitated from it, silently dissolving into the air and pervading the small, secret room.
Standing in this rose-colored mist, one could smell a strange, ethereal fragrance. It was like a rose, yet just by smelling it, one could forget their pain, their mood gradually becoming relaxed and cheerful.
As the rose mist spread throughout the room, everything before Ron and Herta seemed to have its foundation erased, only to have reality redrawn upon it.
In an instant, the mist before them dissipated, and a magnificent library materialized in its place.
They were standing before the library's exquisite, heavy doors, which slowly creaked open as if to welcome their arrival.
Lifting their heads, they could see an entire sea of stars flowing above the library. Countless star systems were twisted together by fine threads, churned into a gelatinous mass like the sludge of the Milky Way, slowly circulating.
A spiral staircase coiled up through the center of the library, reaching straight into the heavens, piercing through the dense sea of stars and disappearing into the darkness among the twinkling galaxies, its end out of sight.
Countless massive, towering bookshelves stretched towards the sky just like the staircase. Heavy tomes were crammed onto the shelves one after another, packed so tightly that not a single gap could be seen.
A dapper little old man was slowly descending the staircase, a thick book tucked under his arm, apparently pulled from one of the endless shelves.
He opened the massive tome, and the heavy book floated before him, turning its pages one after another automatically.
The pages of the book were blank, with no text, only empty white.
But as the pages turned, and it reached the last few, a deep black ink appeared, gradually outlining countless tiny words.
No one could understand what these words, as small as stardust, meant. Even Ron, who was now no different from an Aeon, lacked this ability.
The dapper old man pushed up his thick glasses slightly. The quill in his hand pointed at the text on the page, moving from point to point, his tone tinged with surprise.
"Reset #382047811296, Jarilo-VI, Ron discovers a corner of the universe's essence... This happened several resets ago?"
He pushed up his glasses again, scrutinizing Ron, who wore a faint smile, and clicked his tongue.
"I didn't think we could break the stalemate, but it really did take an existence like you, someone not part of the deadlock, to do it..."
He muttered to himself, then closed the heavy book before him. With a snap of his fingers, the book flew away on its own accord, climbing up a bookshelf that reached the heavens, finding an empty slot that belonged to it, and obediently returning to its place.
Watching the book return to its shelf, the dapper old scholar turned to Ron, bowed slightly like a gentleman, and gave a salute.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves, [Salvation] Ron."
"I am Mythus of [The Enigmata]. I acknowledge that you now possess the qualifications to perceive the truth."
He spoke, skipping right past the tedious topic. His burning gaze fell on Ron as he asked without hesitation, a hint of irrepressible anticipation in his voice.
"Rest assured, everything you just discussed, and everything you are about to say, I have already used the authority of [The Enigmata] to erase it..."
"So... tell me. You've sought me out now. Is it because you have a little... idea?"
Seeing the anticipation filling the voice of Mythus of [The Enigmata], a smile graced Ron's lips.
He had guessed right... It was just as he thought.
Just like him, there were Aeons who couldn't stand the sight of the King of [The End], who hoped to resist the destined arrival of [The End].
It was just that Ron's previous judgment had been incorrect; he had mistaken who his friends truly were.
But it's never too late to mend the pen after the sheep are lost... The plan to resist the King of [The End], even if it started now, was by no means too late.
He looked at Mythus of [The Enigmata], a matching smile on his face.
"Of course... If I didn't have a plan in mind, I wouldn't have sought out you, the keeper of secrets who can ensure the safety of our plan."
"However, before I explain this plan... Mythus, tell me, who can become our friends?"
"I imagine that as the embodiment of the concept of 'secrets' in this sea of stars, you are privy to all of this, are you not?"
Hearing Ron's words, Mythus of [The Enigmata] fell silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"[The Preservation] and [The Voracity] have been装了太久 (pretending for too long), and have truly become mortal enemies. Before a clear victor emerges, they are powerless to help."
"[The Abundance] is of the continuationist faction, seeking a panacea to continue all things. She is too gentle and lacks the courage to overturn everything."
"[The Hunt] is still young, knows nothing, and still cares for the descendants he shelters in the mortal world..."
"[The Destruction] has already become a pawn without knowing it, but his philosophy should be the most vehement in its resistance..."
"[The Elation] became unable to see through things after climbing to the top of the tree. [The Equilibrium] is a fence-sitter; she will only add her weight to the heavier side of the scale."
"My old rival, [The Erudition], is attempting to study the essence of [The End]. Although the probability of success is slim, he can definitely become our ally."
"[The Remembrance] is trying to remember everything in this sea of stars, preserving it all in his own way through the resets..."
"[The Beauty] tried, and died. [The Trailblaze] tried, and also died."
"[The Harmony] is uncertain... but their help is not so easily obtained."
"[The Nihility] wants a new ending, but he wants to preserve the 'Sea of Nihility' which is clearly distinct from the world."
"[The End] wants to escape its duty, but when it resets the universe, it has never shown any mercy to the Aeons..."
"Its social skills are terrible. No one will help it."
Listening to Mythus's extremely detailed account, Ron stroked his chin thoughtfully, digesting this immense amount of information.
His previous understanding had some issues... The power gap between the Aeons was not as large as he had imagined.
[The End] and [The Nihility] might be stronger than the other Aeons, but these beings who were destined to become Aeons in every reset were no pushovers either.
They retained all their memories, secretly trying various methods. No one truly wanted to be reset an infinite number of times; they were all trying to change [The End] in their own way.
Well... that made things much easier.
Although it seemed there weren't many Aeons who could truly become Ron's allies, the things he wanted to do didn't necessarily require the help of other Aeons.
Besides needing Mythus of [The Enigmata] to help keep the secret... the only other one he truly needed was an old senior who was already dead, [The Trailblaze] Akivili.
As long as not too many Aeons became his enemies, his plan could perhaps be successfully implemented right under the nose of the King of [The End], with the tacit approval of the other Aeons...
"It's enough for them to just remain neutral... My plan is indeed feasible."
Musing silently in his heart and thinking for a moment, Ron looked at Mythus, whose face held a trace of anticipation, clearly hoping Ron could provide a plan to overturn the King of [The End]. A subtle smile played on Ron's lips.
"However, before I tell you this plan, perhaps I should tell you a little story first—"
"Have you guys heard of... the Aetherius Engine?"