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Chapter 264 - Chapter 262: Glutton and a Loophole

Aleph's first outside visit occurred when he met Nous face-to-face. He managed to get knowledge from the Aeon of Erudition themselves. He managed to create a portal straight to Nous' "real body", thus allowing him to conduct that transaction.

The second time…

"How bold."

Endless sparse darkness surrounded him. It made him feel that the entire world itself is an enemy. Its endless attempts to 'devour' parts of Aleph made it extremely repulsive.

"I jumped straight to your mouth. Aren't you afraid you'll catch fire?"

He is extremely calm. Being inside Voracity's mouth meant nothing to Aleph.

For once…

Shiing.

The ordinary-looking silver dagger flashed with a dangerous light. It was none other than the reward that allowed him to usurp another Aeons' authority upon death.

The 'rumbling' of the darkness stopped. They sensed a whole another level of danger from it.

Even, it reminded them of someone.

Rumble-!

The darkness' authority of devouring became more intense. The sparse of darkness revealed its true form—a cloud made of countless black particles. Its full form was an extremely huge snake..!

"Sigh… Why?"

It was unknown whether it was a rhetorical question or not.

Bam-!

A huge explosion similar to countless supernovas occurred. The dimension that housed Voracity could completely withstand the complex information emitted by Aeons.

Innumerable amounts of vectors affected the space one after another. The most noticeable part came from the paradise summoned forth by Aleph.

It forcibly controls the portion of space to do Aleph's bidding, thus effectively preventing any external forces from taking effect.

Things did not end there.

Tick.

Tock.

The synergy of five different authorities came to play.

Aleph's golden pupils reflected a pair of clocks. The moment he raised his right hand, everything went into a standstill. Darkness itself lost its color. Everything turned pale-gray. The only person who retained their colors is Aleph.

The pure white halo atop his head glowed brightly; his eyes full of intrigue.

A prison.

It was the best description. The five-fold synergy enhanced his control over time to an exaggerated degree. If he wasn't the Aeon of Perpetuity, he would have been the Aeon of Time.

"Hm."

Unlike before, his gaze contained nothing but tranquility. He crossed his arms as he waited for Voracity to respond. Depending on their response, he would act accordingly.

Crack-!

Shatter-!

Fine lines appeared in the space. It was shattered like a mirror, causing the black cloud to regain its mobility.

Just then…

Hum.

It let out its first cry—one that signified disbelief.

The only time it suffered a drastic loss was in Qlipoth's hands. All the leviathans within the universe died. The few remaining ones were thrown outside the universe. An amber wall was then made just to block them from returning. Voracity could no longer enter the material universe.

Once again, they were brought back to those times…literally.

Hum-!

Unbeknownst when, everything changed drastically. Voracity was no longer facing Aleph. Instead, the Aeon of Preservation presented themselves.

Voracity momentarily faltered. The black cloud reformed into a massive snake-like form. Space turned into nothing but darkness. They were devoured instantly. Be it space, time, or concepts…

Nothing could escape their gluttony.

Voracity did not doubt Qlipoth's 'timely' appearance. They treated this as some sort of plot between the newly-ascended Aeon and Qlipoth themselves.

Creak-!

Fine orange lines emerged out of nothingness. These 'veins' spread all throughout the space containing Voracity.

The latter was more than familiar with Qlipoth's specialties—that included the amber that closely guarded everything. Nothing could escape past it, not even time.

Screech-!

A cry that penetrated dimensions resounded. Voracity revealed its true form. Its gaze, presence, sounds… Everything that came from them functioned as bottomless mouths that sought to devour all things.

Shatter-!

The first thing to get affected was space. The physical phenomena with space lost its meaning.

Shatter-!

The second thing was time. They devoured the past and present, thereby sealing shut any possibilities of the future.

Shatter-!

The third thing was the dimension itself. The place that could 'supposedly' house the presence of Aeons collapsed into nothingness. As a result, the aftermath of their battle became clearer for everyone to see.

Complex information began spreading rapidly. Several Aeons' gazes turned over to their side. The appearance of Voracity's full power did not take their main attention.

Bam-!

A cluster of orange amber turned into a cube that contained Voracity. The authority of devouring it displayed was briefly put under control.

However…

Hum.

{"You are not them!"}

Voracity sent their malicious gaze outside—right into 'Qlipoth'. The latter looked at the real Qlipoth's gaze before cracks of indescribable light appeared on "Qlipoth's" image.

When he turned back to look at Voracity, all they saw was a humanoid being with an eight-pointed halo. His entire body was filled with nothing but hazy light. It was white at one turn; black next; then purple, brown, blue…

His existence itself is an error.

{Notice. The authority testing has been completed. Relevant data has been stored into the database.}

Metatron's voice rang in Aleph's ears.

"To fool the world and take the identity of another. Error, it is."

The five-fold synergy did not stop at having control over time; rather, it was but one of its numerous effects. It possessed the ability to push out one of the authorities—save for Infinity—to another level.

This time, it was Error.

Using it, he was able to 'turn back time' and draw out Qlipoth's image from Voracity. Like a ready-made suit, Aleph was able to truly become Qlipoth, harnessing the powers of Preservation whenever he likes.

Of course, a fake has its limits.

"If you wanted a death match, I would have granted your request." He began speaking to the enclosed black snake, the dagger msising in his grasp. "But, you did not want that. I will let you off once."

Aleph's figure suggested otherwise.

Error.

Tick.

In an instant, a loophole was forcibly made.

Out of the eight authorities, Spirit King, Null, and True Dragon did not major in anything related to time. A synergy with them could not be made as a result.

That was until now.

Hum.

The three authorities that lacked time suddenly sprouted time-related functions. That 'bit' turned into something 'major'.

Tick.

An eight-fold authority synergy began to appear. Consequently, four pairs of wings made of infinite colors appeared on Aleph's back.

Tock.

Time itself submitted to him. The past, present, and future is now in his hands.

Hum-!

His right hand drew a gesture of a circle.

Shatter-!

Screech-!

Voracity let out a loud cry for the second time. The disappearance of their cage did not warrant joy, but anger.

Desperately, their authority began gnawing at the time imposed by Aleph. Their struggles turned meaningless, however.

Gradually, their state reverted to the state of a black cloud. It did not end there.

Voracity's true form began shifting between its true form and the black cloud. Each time it did, time buzzed. Their appearance was changing backwards.

From its half-recovered state, it returned as to when Qlipoth had just banished it.

Needless to say, its state was worse than when the battle started.

By the time these changes ended, the pure white circle Aleph drew caused Voracity to reappear right where it was once defeated. They disappeared from their current place as they were banished somewhere else.

These effects were temporary for them as one of the oldest Aeons. Still, it was enough to cause considerable damage.

Hum-!

With that, everything was restored to normal…

"...Terminus."

…or not.

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