Aleph saw this day a long time ago.
His first interaction as an Aeon—the meeting with Nous—proved he wasn't an Aeon who unilaterally sought destruction. A "civil" conversation is possible.
Unfortunately for him, the first Aeon who reached out to him was Elation.
Out of all the Aeons he could meet, he encountered the very being who represented the concept of chaos and randomness—Elation.
True to their name, Elation is an Aeon that could do anything in pursuit of, well, Elation.
"Aw… Wouldn't that make things much simpler? It's no fun."
"That's my side. If you aren't willing to follow my rules, the door is left open to you."
Aleph pointed out of nowhere. An opened white door emerged out of nowhere. A chilly place was revealed on the other side.
A young man with dark blue hair could be seen strolling to the door.
The moment the girl across from Aleph saw him, she threw out a 'grenade' over the door before it closed by itself.
"Huh? Since when did a door—"
Bam-!
The impact of the explosion could be felt through the door.
"Oh. It's just some annoying guy. Let's follow your rules, then!" The girl introduced herself. "The name's Sparkle. Will you mind giving yours?"
At this exact moment, Aleph sensed that the girl changed impeccably. She lost Elation's presence.
…or is it?
"...Aleph."
"What a fancy name. No wonder you can pull off a cool entrance."
Aleph remained on-guard on Sparkle. To this Aeon whose defining point was 'randomness', he sure as heck would not lower his guard.
It was here he started probing on her intentions.
"Me? Weren't you the one who called me over? I was very flattered when I saw the invitation…"
"Whatever's good with you. Receiving an unknown gift is enough, you know!"
"Hm? Can you allow me to enter the Genius Society?!"
Aleph ended up receiving noncommittal replies. It was as one would expect from a Masked Fool.
'When you think it's the bottom of their pockets… it turns out it isn't.'
Sparkle's current attitude was enough to place her towards the top three people whom Aleph could not easily deal with.
For the record, Mobius ranks first, Vill-V second, and Mei third.
Nevertheless…
"Care to play a game?"
Under her watchful yet interested gaze, he took out a board game known as 'Monopoly'.
"If you beat me, well, you can ask me for a favor."
"That's what you said~!"
*****
"Heh. No matter how hard she cheats…"
The meeting with the Aeon of Elation, Aha, ended with a board game.
"They did not show up…"
He took out the miniature black sphere out of his body. The millions of denizens of Abundance remained inside this place.
Aleph half-expected for Abundance to come and meet him first, but Elation went outside his expectations and did it first.
"Things are proceeding as usual."
He murmured as the space in front of him shattered like glass. Lying atop his palm were two different lights—a dark red and a light red orb.
These are 'recorded' from the Aeons of Erudition and Elation, respectively.
This power belonged to the Door authority. Aside from traversing space, it could also 'record' various abilities and 'project' them when needed.
This was also where Aleph's numerous authorities came to fray. Metatron's sub-skill, [Projection], enhanced the Door's projection skill. The Finality (i.e., time) authority made it more 'real', thus increasing its power.
Finally, the Infinity authority enhanced the three authorities involved in 'projection'. That was how Aleph ended up replicating nearly seventy percent of the two Aeons' authorities.
Of course, this was subject to a bunch of limitations—things he was willing to accept.
'I can finally start the next phase… Use Erudition to gather information, then use Elation's disguise capabilities. I might be able to pass through the imaginary barrier soon…'
*****
Three months later.
To Earth, an approximate of two years had passed.
Buzz-!
Crackle-!
It was a devastating scene. Floating atop the frozen tundra was a girl no more than twelve years old. She emitted a bearing no kid ever had—an aura belonging to that of a sovereign.
Space crackled with her presence. Slits leading to the imaginary space appeared in the real world. The concentration of honkai energy shot through the roof.
It was comparable to the deadliest calamity humanity faces—honkai eruption.
Rumble-!
'This is bad. She's attracting them..!'
The man held a familiar flaming greatsword. A sense of conflict arose in his heart.
The honkai chooses its carriers extremely well. It just so happened that his "daughter" fits the bill very well.
Ever since that day…
'It doesn't matter. I won't fail this time..!'
The Herrscher's vessel is his biological daughter.
Siegfried won't fail again.
Crack-!
Bzzt-!
Fueled by his beliefs, he decisively used the greatsword's strongest form. The seventh Divine Key made during the Previous Era—Judgement of Shamash—gave unprecedented power to its wielders. Its only downside was its lack of consideration.
Even when the host burns away and dies, the greatsword will not care.
This was the power received upon using one's willpower as the fuel!
"Futile struggle. It will end up with your defeat, just as before."
A cold tone came from the girl's mouth. It was completely inconsistent with her soft and childish appearance.
"Ha..!"
Bam-!
The frozen tundra turned into a flaming hellscape with one thought. Siegfried's capabilities to manipulate heat itself posed a huge problem to the Herrscher.
Hum.
Buzz-!
A ray of pure black counteracted the flames coming towards her. It formed into various malleable shapes such as spheres and spikes.
Their surroundings were swiftly riddled with holes. The few boulders and trees on their way were cut down mercilessly—that, or burnt under extremely high temperatures.
It seems that this fight would never end until only one was left standing…
…or so the two thought.
"Hah..?!"
The Herrscher's body stopped moving, literally.
The honkai energy supplied from her Herrscher Core stagnated. Her previous attacks went to a standstill. She was left unable to do anything against the raging tide of crimson flames.
One blink.
All it took was that single blink for someone to appear right in front of her.
It was a boy she did not see before. His dark blue hair seems ordinary. Only his golden pupils captivated her at first glance—that being her pupil's color too.
The most apt description to him was the word 'ghost'.
"Wh—"
"Sleep well, kid."
The moment his fingertip touched her forehead, 'she' lost consciousness.