It was Aleph's first practical test with Error. From the moment he received it, he knew the things he could do with it. Each authority of his, in fact, is capable of being 'game-breaking'. It just so happened that [Error] is the best when it comes to breaking rules—even if it was a god's authority.
The things he could not do before, he could do now.
The eightfold synergy allowed him to temporarily raise his power—his existence—to another level. The concepts he touches upon, the weight of his existence, the effects he could bring…
Aleph's strength reached an unprecedented height.
"Terminus."
"..."
Stepping onto a new level allowed him to see new things.
In his MANTIS surgery, it was the clear perception of the world.
Now, it is the clear perception of the sole Aeon that was out of reach.
'It's not that they remain hidden, but…' He momentarily paused. 'They are on another level altogether. Enough strength is needed to perceive them..!'
Another mystery was solved.
Amidst the gazes of numerous Aeons, they stood out the best. The pure darkness they emitted was completely unlike Voracity's.
'Like IX… but different.'
Loss of meaning.
That was Aleph's first thought. He tried to describe them to the very best he could.
'This is meaningless. There's no description for them.'
Hum.
Aleph looked at his true form and was startled to see black cracks emerge. He was familiar with it. This was the power that caused him to sleep for a decade.
{Reminder.}
{Reminder.}
{Reminder.}
Metatron sent out three different messages. Each of them possessed a special complex information to snap Aleph out of his daze.
{The current phenomenon has a 94% match with the previous event recorded eleven and a half years ago. The foreign power inhibits conceptual ability of all authorities, except for Infinity.}
'It's different now.'
Aleph traced his right hand above the fine black cracks. The power of time was drawn. His right hand split into countless parallel selves and traced all the black cracks in an instant. It was then reversed, making it look like nothing happened at all.
When he finished reversing time, Terminus' gaze also withdrew.
Aleph had the urge to look at them again but chose not to.
'Losing miserably… No wonder most Aeons are interested with them.'
It was merely a gaze. The damage to his true body was real.
{...occurred fifteen more times, you will revert to your prior injured state.}
'Sixteen gazes. Can we use Terminus as a standard now?'
The ironic comparison reminded him of the Jujutsu World. They used the fingers of the King of Curses—the supposed strongest—as a measure of strength.
'Either way, I should do my job first.'
Out of the original five, three Aeons withdrew. Only Abundance and Mythus remained.
As for the other Aeons who looked at the fight between him and Voracity, they left a long time ago.
Aleph's eyes turned towards Enigmata. The latter seemingly came up with a proposal.
"They allowed me to do anything. Out of all people, or rather, Aeons… Nous welcomed the uncertainty the most."
{"..."}
It was unknown what Mythus thought. After a while, they disappeared.
He turned to face the last Aeon in line. Their distance did not matter. Time was rewound, restoring the dimension that held Voracity back to its previous state.
Consequently, a humanoid being with numerous arms appeared out of nowhere. They are bigger than Aleph's body. The white cloth they wore, the expression on their face, the huge golden halo behind their back…
Yaoshi wore their true form.
"Hello. I've been waiting for a long time."
{...Your price."}
Hearing these words removed a part of Aleph's exhaustion.
"Before I answer that, do you mind answering my curiosity?"
{"..."}
"Would you really give anyone powers so long as they sought it?"
{"Yes."}
"Then, you would not mind me borrowing it for a bit?"
{"..."}
The negotiation regarding Yaoshi's followers began.
*****
Bam.
The dojo's door creaked open. It revealed Fu Xuan's figure. The first thing she saw were the unconscious students. Her gaze was then redirected towards the two identical women.
Shockingly enough…
"Marshal..?"
Fu Xuan stuttered as she asked. She could not believe what she was seeing.
'Teacher mentioned how He wanted to meet the Marshal. Was it…'
"We are not your Marshal." Hua broke the silence. "We happened to look like her. That was all."
"Parallel Self Refraction? No wonder…"
Fu Xuan was quick to snap out of her daze. She watched as Hua summoned forth a flaming feather on her palm.
Hum-!
A circle of flame swept through the entire place. Embers began appearing out of nowhere. The 'items' that held 'memories' of the entire incident were burned into nothingness.
Fu Xuan remained silent until Hua was done clearing out any traces.
Click-!
The dojo's gate opened. The unconscious people 'woke' up with blank eyes. They stood up and returned to their previous positions before their eyes turned clear.
Psshk-!
Psshk-!
The sound of air breaking returned to the training space.
"He's back."
"I will go first."
"Hm."
Swoosh-!
Senti disappeared within a few steps. She brought Fu Xuan with her. In an instant, the latter found herself back in the dojo's front yard.
There, they saw Aleph. The final traces of his battle dissipated within his irises. The feeling of being detached disappeared.
"That was a big fight, isn't it?!"
"It's not that bad. There's a guy who asked for a spar." Aleph replied as he patted Senti's head. "I won, of course."
Fu Xuan did not understand these things. The entire dojo was sent to another dimension when Remembrance made contact.
Ring-!
Ring-!
Out of nowhere, she took out a jade abacus in the shape of a small calligraphy brush. One stroke opened up a holographic panel. It continued vibrating as it received important messages one after another.
It took some time for her to process everything.
She closed the jade abacus and looked at Aleph with complicated eyes.
"Let's talk later." He said to Senti. "There's also the surprise you mentioned before. I'm looking forward to it."
"You should be."
With crossed arms and a smug look, she returned inside the dojo.
"We should continue where we left off."
Aleph spoke as he gestured to her to sit on the tea table underneath the dojo's sycamore tree.
Fu Xuan complied.
Hum-!
The surroundings shifted to the paradise within Aleph's realm.
"Would you like to see something interesting?"
"..?"
Her inquiring look was met with a surprising answer.
"Your original future. Do you want to see it?"