"A new Aeon of Trailblaze! Me?"
Himeko knew the gift of Trailblaze she had received was very unusual. She herself was her own Emanator, and she could even define her own Trailblaze.
But she had never imagined she could become something as great as an Aeon.
Now, the information within her mind told her that as long as she walked her own path of Trailblaze, blazed forward, and defined Trailblaze, then she could inherit the divine seat of Akivili, ascending instantly.
"So that's how it is… this isn't the power of an Emanator left behind by Akivili, but rather the power granted to a successor."
The pure white light of Trailblaze, after shining brightly for a fleeting instant, slowly faded away.
"Eh, Himeko, you were glowing just now!" March 7th exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, I worried you. I'm fine." Himeko shook her head with a smile.
Pam toddled over, swaying with the conductor's hat on its head, and spoke sternly.
"There's bad news. The Express detected that all Silver Tracks have been destroyed. The train has lost its defined route. Right now, it's like a headless fly, without a clear destination."
"But fortunately, the Express has backup star charts. We can re-lay Silver Tracks and resume exploration."
"Of course, there's also good news."
"This calamity, which spread across the whole universe, has erased all traces of the old Trailblaze."
"The Astral Express has judged that all journeys from now on will be completely new Trailblaze. Which means—the Express will never again face an energy shortage."
The Astral Express's power to lay Silver Tracks and blaze trails across the universe came from Trailblaze itself. Only by pioneering new worlds could the train gain the momentum to move forward.
Originally, the Express had barely enough energy to travel across two galaxies at most, which had worried Pam greatly. But now, its freedom of motion had been secured.
March 7th asked curiously, "Energy shortage? The train can even run out of energy?"
Pam turned to March 7th, then glared fiercely at Stelle, several anger symbols bursting out on its forehead.
"The matter of energy aside, I must now severely criticize passenger Stelle!"
"The train forbids bringing pets aboard! Right now, immediately, at once—send that pet off the train!"
In an instant, the atmosphere inside the Express turned lively as Stelle and Pam began a battle of wits and antics.
Not far from the Astral Express, a small interstellar ship passed by.
"Well, this turned out rather anticlimactic. After all the preparations for a cosmic catastrophe, who would've thought it would end like this. Don't you think so, Firefly?"
Silver Wolf lounged idly, her gaze shifting toward Firefly, who was staring intently at the distant Astral Express through the ship's viewport.
Firefly nodded. "Mm, a bit anticlimactic. I thought the black beast tide would be like a universal locust plague, but it turned out very different."
"The destructive power of the black beast tide is secondary. Its true terror lies in its ability to dissolve from within. And even amidst despair, there remains a visible hope."
At the helm, Blade let out a cold laugh. "That's not the terrifying part."
"It's the invasion and testing of hearts. Any being capable of thought—whether organic or machine—cannot resist it."
"No civilization can withstand this kind of survival selection. Resistance is impossible. To force it is like an insect blocking a carriage."
Silver Wolf tilted her head. "By that logic, we're not exactly the benevolent kind either. Why is it that we, the infamous Stellaron Hunters feared across the cosmos, weren't attacked?"
Kafka smiled as always, her tongue lightly tracing her lips as though savoring a trace of honey.
"Perhaps we only understand part of civilization's selection mechanism. Maybe, by its standards, we don't count as villains?"
"After all, the ultimate goal of us Stellaron Hunters is to prevent the end of the universe."
Firefly pondered for a moment, then spoke softly. "I don't know why… but a phrase suddenly came to mind. Maybe it fits the mechanism of the black beast tide."
Blade asked in a low voice, "Oh? What phrase?"
Both Silver Wolf and Kafka turned to look at her.
Firefly said uncertainly, "Maybe… it's… to fight for all that is beautiful?"
At this point, Firefly quickly shook her head, her cheeks flushed red. "I-I just suddenly thought of that phrase."
"After all, if we must give everything a final purpose, then doesn't the ultimate goal of the black beast tide seem to be making the universe more beautiful?"
"Just like the resonance of the Path of Destruction granted to me by that Lord."
"Destruction is for the sake of a more beautiful rebirth."
She truly believed this, and she was indeed practicing the principle that destruction exists for the sake of rebirth.
In her eyes, the black beast tide was clearly a great blessing for the universe and for civilization.
It erased in one sweep all cruelty, coldness, darkness, and disharmony from the universe, allowing civilization to return to its most beautiful state.
It was like breaking a crooked tree, so that its branches might grow again correctly.
At this moment, Firefly's body began to radiate a fiery red light of Destruction.
The resonance of the Path of Destruction responded to both the current state of the universe and the philosophical ideal Firefly practiced.
The remnants of Nanook's philosophy, left within the resonance of Destruction, were shattered by Firefly's own ideals.
The state of the universe itself now proved that Firefly's philosophy was more correct than Nanook's.
In a universe, under the same Law, whoever's philosophy aligned more closely with reality—the scales of Law would tilt toward them.
This was like a balance: whoever was right, the balance tilted in their favor.
The Principle of Destruction descended, connecting with Firefly's newly forged Path of Destruction.
Bzzzzzz—
Firefly was stunned, but the information brought by the Principle of Destruction instantly calmed her.
She had unexpectedly met the conditions to become an Aeon.
But she hadn't done anything to shake the entire universe yet.
In truth, she didn't need to. That was simply the unreasonable nature of Law.
Neither Nanook, Lan, Fuli, nor Yaoshi had accomplished any universe-shaking deeds before.
The path they walked and the philosophies they embodied aligned with the standard of Law's descent. Naturally, their path and philosophy fused to become a new Path.
And since Firefly had already possessed an incomplete Path, becoming an Aeon was even simpler for her.
"Ah! What's happening? Firefly!"
"What is this? Such powerful pressure!"
"Why did such Emanator-like power suddenly erupt from you, Firefly?"
Boom—
A crimson light of Destruction erupted, shining like the morning star of the universe, visible to every galaxy in existence.
This light pierced through causality in the most unreasonable way.
The speed of light would take hundreds of billions of years to cross the universe, yet the radiance of an Aeon's birth spread across the cosmos in an instant.
Time, space, universal laws—all were meaningless before an Aeon.
"Ahhhh! Firefly! You—!"
As Silver Wolf screamed, Firefly shone brilliantly, as though becoming the incarnation of light itself. Her radiance pierced through the ship's hull as she stepped into the vastness of space.
"Everyone… don't worry. I can't explain everything right now. I can only say this—I am about to become an Aeon. The Aeon of Destruction."
Firefly's voice was warm as she looked at her worried, astonished companions.
At this moment, she felt her being rising toward an unfathomable height. Her consciousness and perception were continuously evolving within an indescribable, ineffable force.
As her cognition rose, the dimensions of the universe unfolded before her eyes.
Three-dimensional… four-dimensional… five-dimensional… six-dimensional…
It was as if she had broken free from a painting. The sensation was nothing short of miraculous.
Her body too transformed under this wondrous power into a higher-dimensional state. The laws of the universe, its operation, its structure—everything revealed itself before her.
Firefly's words left Silver Wolf, Blade, and Kafka utterly shaken.
"Hiss… she's becoming an Aeon! The Aeon of Destruction? That's impossible… Ah! It's that thing! The thing that made Firefly an Emanator of Destruction."
As the universe's greatest hacker, Silver Wolf's sharp mind instantly pieced together the cause and effect.
"That gift—the one given to Firefly by that great Aeon!"
Blade's eyes widened, staring at the dazzling Firefly like she was a supernova. "Becoming an Aeon…"
Kafka's face also showed astonishment. "An Aeon… the Aeon of Destruction?"
"I remember now," Kafka continued. "Elios once said that the newly born Aeon of Hope fought Nanook and won."
"Could it be… that this power was torn directly from Nanook?"
Back then, when the Aeon of Hope granted Firefly her power, they had all been present. Yet none of them had asked what exactly it was—only how strong she had become.
"An Aeon…"
Silver Wolf suddenly grew excited. "Wait, if Firefly becomes an Aeon, then we'll be friends of an Aeon! If an Aeon is my friend, who in the entire universe would dare mess with us again?"
Blade muttered in a low voice, "Shouldn't the first concern be what happens when two Aeons of Destruction exist at the same time?"
Two Aeons of Destruction—such a thing had never been heard of.
When two Aeons shared overlapping Paths, they were destined to be enemies. The broader Path would consume the narrower one.
Just like Order and Harmony.
...
From possessing merely galaxy level Emanator strength, Firefly's power skyrocketed under the force of Law to the level of a single-universe being. Her once-ordinary body was steadily transformed into a Holy Body.
A Holy Body was a cosmic vessel, carrying the essence of the universe itself. To possess such essence meant to qualify as one of the universe's cornerstones, capable of bearing the weight of an entire cosmos.
Within the context of the Teyvat Universe, this Holy Body was equivalent to the Almighty God's divine body.
In other words, ordinary single-universe beings could not affect her at all.
The power granted by Law to a Holy Body was too overwhelming. Once one became an Aeon, their size and form inevitably aligned with the Path they embodied.
In other words, most Aeons were grotesque in form. Even those who retained humanoid appearances bore indescribable traits.
For example, the Aeon of Abundance, Yaoshi, became androgynous, with six arms and eyes embedded in every limb.
The Aeon of Harmony, Xipe, manifested as a tri-faced head, with a body of interstellar clouds and fragments of philosophy woven together.
The lower body of Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt, had become a war chariot, while its face had turned into a cross-shaped star.
But the Path of Destruction within Firefly had long since been assimilated into Teyvat by Noah, eliminating such defects entirely.
A Holy Body would naturally exist, but she could still switch back into her human form.
And this Holy Body was not grotesque or distorted, but rather a magnified, divine form.
Under the power of the Principle of Destruction, Firefly's philosophical ideals fully merged with her once-incomplete Path. Within the Principle of Destruction, that Path was completed, then expanded without limit.
The new Path of Destruction radiated outward into the cosmos as Firefly's Holy Body took shape.
As the Holy Body swelled larger and larger, the new Path of Destruction rapidly spread to cover the entire universe.
Firefly's Holy Body expanded to the size of a star. She retained her original appearance, yet her arms were veined with cracks like molten magma. Her body was wrapped in a dress woven of crimson light.
Her eyes turned scarlet, like two burning stars, while a halo of magma formed behind her head.
In tone and aura, she bore great resemblance to Nanook—but with an even greater divine quality.
Bzzz—
The radiance of Firefly's Holy Body instantly evaporated the black beast tide clouds that lay within its glow.
In a single moment, hundreds of thousands of galaxies were freed from the abyssal power's black-red shroud.
The Astral Express and the Xianzhou Alliance, located within the same galaxy where Firefly had ascended, stood as though directly before her—almost within arm's reach.
All who survived in the Xianzhou Alliance gazed in shock at the massive, clearly visible form of the Aeon.
The Xianzhou's high-ranking officials had once looked upon Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt, and witnessed its sacred form. They immediately recognized the presence before them as an Aeon's true body.
Even those who had never seen one knew instinctively, upon beholding it, that this was an Aeon.
For the upper ranks of the Xianzhou, who had spoken directly with Firefly many times before, the shock was indescribable.
General Jing Yuan, exhausted to the point his limbs were weak and barely able to support himself on his blade as he knelt half-collapsed, stared in disbelief.
"An Aeon… the Aeon of Destruction? How is this possible? That Emanator of Destruction… has become the Aeon of Destruction itself?"
"What has happened to the universe? Or is it that my Mara is flaring again, and my very cognition has begun to collapse?"
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven