Crack, crack—
Under his own will, Nanook's Holy Body shattered. Another arm, from shoulder to waist, splintered into countless fragments.
The power of the Path of Destruction, once enveloping half the cosmos, began to weaken step by step.
Nanook's Path of Destruction continued to fracture. Shards of philosophy peeled away one after another, then were devoured by the newly forged Path of Destruction.
As Firefly absorbed those peeled-away philosophical fragments, the breadth of her Path rapidly expanded.
Though both belonged to the Path of Destruction, the Tree and Sea never allowed two identical leaves to exist. There would always be subtle differences. Just as with Raiden Bosenmori Mei and her counterparts across various universes—they were not the same phase-being, but rather similar, separate individuals.
Such subtle distinctions, when placed upon the Path, manifested as vast disparities. Thus, all traits Firefly's Path of Destruction lacked would be absorbed from Nanook's Path.
The remnants that did not align with Firefly's new Path would be discarded.
Those remnants would either serve as evidence Nanook had not been fully devoured, or become the ashes of a fallen Aeon. Then, together with the traces of Nanook's will, they would converge into the cancer of all worlds—the Stellaron.
Most Stellarons today were indeed formed from the remnants of fallen Aeons' power.
"I've won, Nanook. My Destruction is utterly superior to yours in serving the cosmos. Life, civilization—because of the universe they shine, and because of them the universe becomes resplendent and diverse."
"And Destruction exists to purge the errors that hinder the universe's continuation."
"Just like seeds sprouting from the ashes of a wildfire, bringing forth new life to the world."
Firefly felt her strength growing ever greater as she absorbed shard after shard of philosophy.
An Aeon's power depended upon the breadth of its Path. The broader the Path, the greater the power it could wield.
Within the scope of her philosophy, she was invincible—unless another arose, as she had, to overturn Nanook's philosophy itself.
Yet such a miracle was nearly impossible. From the birth of the first Aeon until now—over tens of billions of years—only she had emerged.
Such a situation, she believed, might never occur again from the birth to the end of the cosmos.
Crack—
Nanook's Holy Body continued to shatter and collapse, yet his will's assault never ceased. Even his already broken Path continued to burn.
Aeons were creatures of absolute obsession. They would never waver from the Path they walked. Even if proven fragile, narrow, or flawed, they would persist unshaken.
Nanook remained unmoved, golden-red eyes calmly watching the new Aeon of Destruction devouring his Path.
"Indeed, you have won, new Destruction. But my Destruction remains an unshakable truth."
Firefly declared firmly: "From philosophy's view, yours may be the truth. But from reality's view—mine is the truth."
"This ends here, Nanook."
Nanook said nothing more, only continued to gaze in utter calm while exerting every last ounce of his power.
Firefly's Path accelerated, devouring shards of philosophy without pause.
The old Path of Destruction shattered like a river of glass.
As it was devoured piece by piece, Nanook's Holy Body crumbled completely, until only a head remained. Even that resembled a shattered melon, from which one golden-red eye was flung into the void.
Crack—
The old Path of Destruction shattered utterly, absorbed completely by the new Path. Nanook's Holy Body vanished from Firefly's sight.
The energy released from its shattering was absorbed by the universe, distributed evenly throughout. For a brief time, the cosmos' energies rose by several percent.
Nanook had fallen completely. Yet he had not vanished without trace.
The marks he left upon the universe remained.
For instance, the Antimatter Legion forged from dark matter.
But bereft of their creator and no longer commanded, they now wandered aimlessly through the cosmos—like the parasitic pests left behind by the fallen Aeon of Propagation.
The black beast tide did not completely annihilate the Antimatter Legion. Instead, after clearing away the portions that affected civilization, it ignored the rest.
The creations of the Antimatter Legion possessed only instinct, devoid of self-awareness, acting entirely under Nanook's will…
Beyond that, they only moved according to the commands of the Seven Lord Ravagers.
But now, with Nanook's death, all seven had lost their power.
Each Lord Ravager possessed the might to burn galaxies, somewhat stronger than an ordinary galaxy-level Emanator, though their strength had limits.
Before Nanook's fall, two of them had already been slain by galaxy-level abyssal beasts. The rest, once stripped of their Emanator power, were swept up and hurled into the Abyss by the black beast tide.
Within the bottomless tunnels of the Abyss, a female figure of living flame struggled and screamed.
"Ahhh… my power is gone! Has my master truly fallen?!"
Before she could finish her wailing, a whip of abyssal energy lashed out, shattering her fiery body.
"Hmph, so you're called Phantylia, right? A strange lifeform of fire. Took me quite some effort to deal with you. Once you're in the Abyss, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy yourself. Ugh, exhausting."
"But hey, bagging a few tens of thousands of galaxies smoothly—hehehe, promotion and pay raise, promotion and pay raise! Even if I can't reach Supreme rank, rising to Abyssal Commander should be just about right, hehehe~"
The Abyssal Apostle Enjou, already a galaxy-level God-King, grinned so wide his mouth nearly split apart.
...
Though a universal catastrophe raged, the clash of old and new Aeons had still been observed by countless cosmic powers.
Especially Penacony, which had not yet been struck—but soon would be.
"Incredible. In a calamity of this scale, anything can happen. Even two identical Paths appearing, leading to a battle between old and new Aeons."
Diamond, Minister of Strategic Investment of the Interastral Peace Corporation, spoke in disbelief.
Dr. Primitive No. 64 of the Genius Society exclaimed with excitement: "Hehehe, isn't this the most unimaginable set of data? Information directly from an Aeon!"
Dongfang Qixing interjected: "Hey, hey! Sure, the Aeon battle is unimaginable, but what's more pressing is that the black beast tide is almost here."
"What we need to discuss is our counterstrategy."
"Based on results from gravitational wave detection, no world so far has been able to resist it. And even Emanators caught within it are eventually ground to death."
Diamond sneered at Dongfang Qixing's words. "Emanators? Heh… Emanators mean nothing to those abyssal beasts. How much do we truly understand about them?"
Dr. Primitive chuckled as well. "How much do we understand? Emanator of Preservation, you jest. Even among the top ranks of the Genius Society, our research has only reached the conclusion that abyssal creatures are somewhat similar to antimatter lifeforms."
"But it is clear they possess a complete ecosystem. The higher their life level, the more intelligence they exhibit. An abyssal beast at Emanator level is nearly impossible to slay—even for another Emanator."
"More shocking still, through universal detection conducted by our Genius Society, it's evident these abyssal beasts possess a hive mind—just like the Antimatter Legion Nanook created before his fall."
"Otherwise, how could such a ludicrous selection mechanism even exist?"
"If one were to follow this mechanism, then ninety-nine percent of those fleeing to Penacony would become targets for cleansing."
"And there would be no avoiding it—including me, and all of you."
Dr. Primitive was well aware of his own sins. Though he believed his research was right—that scientific progress must come with sacrifice—he had no illusions.
The number of those who wanted his life could circle the entire cosmos, especially the meddlesome Cloud Knights and Galaxy Rangers.
He was confident no one in the universe could take his life… until now. The black beast tide made clear to him that without a precise method, he was certain to die.
In terms of guilt, this so-called scientific genius—who turned entire civilized planets into experimental fields, wiping them so clean that not even a single bacterium remained—was the most heinous sinner in the universe.
Perhaps the only interstellar organization untouched by the beast tide would be the Garden of Recollection, that absolutely neutral group.
Of course, it wasn't that the Garden of Recollection had no sinners—it had plenty—but proportionally, far fewer.
At this moment, the Garden's Memokeeper were traversing the universe, collecting memories.
Louis Fleming pointed upward, toward the miniature sun hanging above the atmosphere, enshrouding the entire galaxy and laying down order. "Everyone here is clever. The only way out lies above. Surely you already understand."
"Only that legacy of the Aeon of Order overhead can let us survive this annihilation crisis. Only the power of an Aeon gives us a chance."
Diamond frowned. "But the key lies in finding someone capable of inheriting that legacy. Those who walk the Path of Order are rarer than phoenix feathers across the entire universe—let alone in Penacony."
Dr. Primitive chuckled. "That is a matter for us scientists to study. The legacy of Order will certainly favor whoever has most upheld Order at present. And that person has already appeared."
Everyone present leaned forward at once. "Oh? Who is it?"
This was their future on the line.
Dr. Primitive turned his gaze toward the largest screen of the Penacony Dreamscape Hotel. On it was projected the galaxy's greatest star, singing to soothe the hearts of all.
Her voice had once ended wars across countless civilizations, bringing enemies to shake hands and reconcile.
Barriers of language, barriers of culture, even barriers of species—none could resist her song. It broke down every wall, carrying messages of peace and beauty, leading strangers to clasp hands as friends.
Though the current calm of Penacony was due in part to the legacy of Order, the one who had truly pacified countless races' fear and panic was the singer, Robin.
The others understood at once.
Dr. Primitive continued. "Any Emanator, with careful perception, can discover certain clues. Isn't that so?"
Hearing this, Diamond erupted with Emanator-level power, extending the Path of Preservation to expand his perception and cover the entirety of Penacony.
Every life signal imprinted into his vision. Among them, one shone brilliantly, a silver thread from the legacy of Order connecting directly to it.
But that aura belonged not to Order—it belonged to Harmony. And Harmony rejected the favor of Order.
At once, all the great figures present could not help but grow excited.
Every conclusion they had drawn thus far pointed only to utter annihilation.
Only the legacy of Order offered them hope.
Even as mere remnants, the power of an Aeon could lay down laws across an entire galaxy—rules even abyssal beasts were forced to obey.
"Since hope lies before us, send someone to bring Miss Robin here. No—invite her politely."
After all, Robin was a superstar famed across the cosmos, and also an important member of her family line—the younger sister of the Oak family's patriarch.
Even if Penacony, in the eyes of these mighty powers and their Emanators, was not worth weighing on the same scale with them—
For Penacony had no Emanator, not even a Pathstrider capable of shattering a planet—
Still, their only hope now rested upon her. Should she succeed in inheriting the legacy of Order, and afterward turn that power against them—would that not make them into clowns?
None who rose to the top of great powers lacked cunning.
...
Meanwhile—
On the private commercial vessel Radiant Feldspar, belonging to Oti Alfalfa, patriarch of the Alfalfa Family—
Sparkle, having taken on the form of a Pixie while inflating balloons for stage props, felt the eruption of Emanator-level power. But when she merely swept the planet once with her Path, she burst out laughing joyfully.
"Heheh~ ahhh, those ants on a hot pan finally realized it. Just in time—Lady Sparkle has prepared balloons that can fly across the whole planet in an instant."
"At the critical moment, I'll celebrate for everyone."
"Wuuu… for this one dazzling moment, I, Sparkle, blew up ten million balloons with my bare hands. My arms are so sore…"
She glanced toward the Aha mask lying motionless at her side, as if it were a dead object.
"Fufufu, then next, releasing these balloons will be up to you, Lord of Joy. Refusal is not an option."
"Lend your hand personally, to aid in the birth of a great Aeon, hehe."
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