It all took a second to occur.
The human brain processes a thought in less than a fourth of a second. Humans enhanced with ICHORs could do this even faster.
Even so, Siegfried remained still. What he saw was nothing short of a god's descent. Acknowledging His mere presence took away Siegfried's free will. The 'being' floating in the distance caused such an effect.
'Finally… A success.'
Aleph did not mind his chibi-like appearance. He focused more on his success.
'A year… An entire year.' He thought. 'As expected, having more authorities is not a downside.'
For an entire year, Aleph focused 30% of his efforts on absorbing the Sanctum's endless knowledge while 50% of his efforts went to developing the capability to bypass Earth's imaginary barrier. The remaining 20% went to spend casual time with others.
That was how Aleph lived throughout that year.
For once, his ELF that was supposed to be ejected with him managed to remain on parallel Earth. It went into a deep sleep until he awakened it when he became an official Aeon.
That was how the plan to bypass the imaginary barrier began.
With it working on the inside, Aleph figured out a way to send his 'consciousness' to it. That included his state with the eight-pointed halo. Elation's 'disguise' was the best solution to it.
The moment he enters parallel Earth is the day he becomes closer on returning home.
Aside from that, he discovered that 'Earth' is connected to the universe despite the said barrier existing. It was something caused by his previous attempt on opening a gap.
Its most obvious result was the one-to-one time ratio.
As for it being a downside or an advantage, it's up to the person themselves.
For Aleph, it was the latter.
Crack-!
A compressive force descended upon his extremely small body.
Buzz-!
The ELF's components started breaking. All sorts of electrical arcs appeared on Aleph.
Bam-!
His flight module exploded, forcing him to come crashing into the ground.
Boom-!
Rumble-!
His small size created an impact nothing short of a magnitude ten earthquake.
"Just… It continued where it left..!"
There was no loophole.
Upon exhibiting his Aeon-level power beyond the universe's limit, he experienced the rejection of the Tree once again. It continued where it left on, thus its strong force. It was enough to incapacitate most of the ELF's functions.
An unnatural energy source followed. A surge of imaginary energy, something that should not exist here, appeared. It came with the Tree's influence. With these two complex information clashing, imaginary energy is produced. That was the reason behind Honkai Energy's existence.
Click.
Click.
Hum-!
An unnatural eight-pointed white halo appeared atop his head. It remained unstable, showing signs of visual glitches, before stabilizing at some point.
The moment it did so, Aleph managed to control his current situation.
'My body bore most of the burden. Ugh… It hurts.'
…
In Xianzhou Fanghu's side, Aleph's real body lay helplessly on the sofa.
"Huff… I can see why all the other Aeons went to other dimensions…"
He did not mind the pain and paid attention to parallel Earth once again.
…
"No… It's worse than I thought."
A simple diagnosis confirmed his current state.
{Result. The current Pseudo-Aeon state restricts the collapse of 'self' from prior injuries. The connection within the parallel Earth may disappear upon bodily collapse.}
'Conceptual states… It's still fixable.'
For Aleph, his ELF form was his 'spawn point' on parallel Earth. Once it shuts down, he would lose the said spawn point—highlighting its current significance.
The halo atop his head was the only thing keeping Aleph from losing it.
'I can't use much of my power here…'
Fortunately, his ELF body was akin to a 'player'. It did not restrict his real body from performing to its peak state.
Countless thoughts passed by in his mind. That included the most optimal responses to his current situation. His Aeon-level processing speed was a higher-leveled solution to his current problem.
'Right. Cursed Energy could work here.'
Aleph did not use any type of energy for a long time. Naturally, he almost forgot cursed energy's unique-yet-limited nature regarding Binding Vows.
'I will not use five of my authorities in this body. I will not use any kind of power in the realm of Godhood.''
That was enough for an insane amount of cursed energy to spawn within his ELF body out of nowhere. Its damaged honkai reactor began to be supplied by endless cursed energy. Its sheer density began to cover the airspace around Aleph with cursed energy. A tangible coldness and sense of doom began to be emitted all over the place.
Fortunately, it was enough to start the ELF body's self-repair capabilities.
While doing so, he did not forget to catch the young girl's body.
Thud.
The Cursed Technique, [Limitless], gradually repulsed the gravity acting on the girl's body. It ensured a soft landing to the ground.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Rustled footsteps came from behind Aleph. He looked back and saw a disheveled man holding a familiar greatsword.
'It's better to hear the smaller details from them.'
He sighed inwardly.
"She's unhurt."
Aleph's words only caused Siegfried to tighten his grip.
"If I wanted to cause harm, you wouldn't be standing right in front of me."
The latter immediately let go of his vigilance. Aleph's words held the truth. Even Siegfried himself felt that the 'small guy' in front of him posed a greater threat compared to Herrschers themselves.
"How often did you enter your family's library?"
Aleph asked a seemingly random question.
"Not often. Why?"
"Well, nevermind then."
Siegfried heard his words and felt strange.
'Why does it feel offensive?'
"You can consider me as a super strong ancestor from the heavens. I saw how you were struggling and took pity on you. Get it?"
"..."
"Of course, I am joking."
Aleph did not mind whether Siegfried understood the Xianzhou jokes he learned over the past year.
"I'm not joking about the super strong part, though. I am really strong." Aleph said with a smile. "Let's get going. There are countless people coming this way."
Hearing this, Siegfried's expression turned serious. He hasn't forgotten the circumstances they faced after that day. Their "enemy" was the biggest organization in the entire world.
"Hm. Nope. Nope. They're no longer here. Continental shifts are a pain…"
Suddenly, Aleph noticed a brief signal being established to his ELF's receptors.
"Oh. So that's how it is." He seemingly understood something. "Come closer. We're leaving."
"Huh?"
"Teleportation. I will use it on us."
From the get-go, Alep backed his claim on being a super strong senior.