Far beyond countless light-years, at the place where the Aeon of Causality and the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, clashed.
'Boom, boom, boom…!'
Another confrontation unfolded, a collision between laws and laws, between Paths and Paths. The roaring sound passed, and countless stars were shattered, with hundreds of thousands of galaxies affected by the forces of destruction and causality.
"Hah—!"
Yun Fan pressed forward, locked in a stalemate with Nanook. The two were evenly matched, their strengths vying for dominance. After all, compared to the singular nature of destruction, the scope of causality was far too vast. In terms of raw power, Yun Fan was actually somewhat weaker than Nanook. It was like the difference between specialization and versatility—specialization always trumped generality.
However…
Yun Fan had his own foundation. Just as the two were locked in their struggle, suddenly, from behind Nanook, countless arrows of the Hunt's light shot through the void. With the speed of lightning, they struck the unprepared Nanook.
"Ugh—!"
The arrows of the Hunt, carrying the potent power of the Hunt, pierced deeply into Nanook's shoulder blades. Seizing this opportunity, light flowed around Yun Fan's body, and an immense force of causality stabbed directly into Nanook's form, invading and disrupting the Path of Destruction within him.
Feeling his existence threatened, Nanook instinctively began to resist. In an instant, a force of destruction, vaster than the starry sky itself, erupted from the Aeon's body. Yun Fan's control began to waver, and it seemed that it wouldn't be long before Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, broke free from his grasp.
But at that moment…
A massive spatial gate opened above Nanook's head. The next moment, a golden giant hammer descended from the gate, striking heavily atop Nanook's head.
'Bang—!!'
A sound not native to this dimension reverberated through the universe. Even though the vacuum of space lacked a medium for sound to travel, the noise unmistakably reached the ears of every living being. Simultaneously, across countless light-years, several Aeons turned their gazes toward the battlefield where Yun Fan and Nanook clashed.
Within the machine body of the Aeon of Erudition, Nous, streams of data surged. The next moment, a force of the Path assailed a technician working near the stellar computer. With a loud boom, countless electric sparks crackled, and the ground where the technician stood was utterly shattered.
"Hahahaha…!"
Countless laughs echoed from all directions, as if mocking or ridiculing.
"Ohohohaha… Aha has no face, Aha has no face…"
Indeed, this technician was none other than our Exalting Sanctum Lord, the Aeon of Elation, Aha. Before the Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili, had fallen, Aha had disguised himself as an ordinary Nameless and joined the Astral Express. After lurking for half a year, he single-handedly blew up the Express. After that, he plotted to target the Aeon of Erudition, Nous, to see if he could detonate this massive stellar computer. For this plan, he had been lurking here for years.
In fact, Aha had already been exposed once before this infiltration, so this time he was doubly cautious in executing his plan. But divine calculations could not outmatch the heavens' will…
The clash between Yun Fan and Nanook sent ripples across the cosmos, drawing the attention of several Aeons, including Aha, who loved spectacles the most. It was in that moment of distraction that his true identity was detected by Nous.
"Ohohohaha… Erudition is a pile of scrap, Erudition is a pile of scrap… Hahaha!"
Laughing loudly, Aha fled from the side of the stellar computer, escaping into the cosmos. In response, Nous merely watched the scene unfold, as if the one nearly ambushed wasn't him.
After Aha left, his gaze crossed countless light-years, continuing to observe the battle between Yun Fan and Nanook with the power of Erudition.
As for the departing Aha…
"Hahaha, Causality and Destruction are fighting, they're fighting! Aha loves it, so lively…"
As the Aeon of Elation, the master of the Path of Elation, and the greatest lover of spectacles in the universe, Aha naturally couldn't miss such a grand event. Thus, after his plan to detonate Nous failed, he headed toward the war between the Aeon of Causality, Yun Fan, and the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.
"My goodness! A battle between Aeons—this is a scene not witnessed in hundreds of Amber Eras…!"
At the Herta Space Station, our Lady Herta, upon receiving a transmission from the station's monitoring hub, planned to head to the site of the divine battle to personally observe this clash of Aeons.
However…
Just as Herta prepared to use the power of the Path for a warp jump, a tall woman dressed in Xianzhou-style clothing suddenly grabbed her by the collar, lifting her off the ground.
"Ruan Mei? What are you doing? Let me go!"
"Explanation: Herta, you need to calm down. Ruan Mei is using this method to help you calm down."
A mechanical gentleman approached slowly, raising a hand in a calming gesture as he spoke to explain.
"Ruan Mei, Screwllum, don't stop me! As fellow Emanators of Erudition, you should know what I pursue!"
Herta's voice was slightly cold, and she shook her head firmly. A battle between Aeons might only occur once every few hundred or thousand years. Even though she had lived for over 200 years, that was but a drop in the ocean compared to such a timespan. If she missed this chance to observe the battle of Aeons, she might never witness another in her lifetime.
"So, please, let me go!"
"Explanation: We respect your thoughts, Herta, but allow me to question you once more."
Screwllum placed one hand behind his back, tapping the ground lightly with his cane held in the other.
"The scope of a battle between Aeons is vast. Based on current observations, hundreds of billions of planets have already been reduced to cosmic dust under the clash of the Paths of Causality and Destruction, with thousands of galaxies affected."
"Tell me, Herta, do you believe you have the ability to survive the aftermath of such a battle?"
Hearing Screwllum's words, our ever-confident Lady Herta fell silent for a rare moment. The issue Screwllum raised was something she had already considered. As members of the Genius Society and Emanators of Erudition, how could she not have thought of it? It was just… she didn't want to miss such a golden opportunity, even if it meant risking her fall! Such was the obsession of a genius, a scientist.
"Miss Ruan Mei, please set Lady Herta down. We have no right to interfere with her choices."
"Oh."
Ruan Mei didn't say much. With a slight release of her hand, Herta landed back on the ground.
Let's take another look at this beautiful Xianzhou girl. At this moment, her face showed no particular emotional fluctuations, as if the one who had just lifted Herta wasn't her at all.