"You're a bit late, Silver Wolf," Stelle coughed lightly, explaining, "What I mean is, you're too late. We've already decided on who's going in. Um… thanks for the offer, though?"
Silver Wolf: Ugh! (struck by an arrow).
From the little punk's words, it sounded like… she'd gotten ahead of herself.
"Sorry for the disturbance." Silver Wolf turned to leave quietly.
"Wait a sec."
Stelle grabbed Silver Wolf's shoulder. "I have an idea. Why don't you come with me? I'm not confident going in alone."
Silver Wolf clicked her tongue, thinking to herself: What does your confidence have to do with me? I'm not here to help you.
"I refuse."
Herta suddenly spoke up. "Oh, right, Silver Wolf, why don't you help me manage the data system? You're so good at this stuff, you could definitely ensure Miss Stelle's safety!"
Silver Wolf: "Hmph, since you're begging, I'll reluctantly agree."
Screwllum: "True, honest."
With that settled, Stelle stood in front of the Simulated Universe device. Herta stood at the activation console, reminding her once more, "Miss Stelle, once you enter the Simulated Universe, I'll guide you to the bug's location through the intelligent system and instruct you on how to fix it."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's just a virtual world, no need to be so serious," Silver Wolf said, pulling down her goggles. "Let's start quick and finish quick."
"Mhm, thank you, Silver Wolf. Simulated Universe activation countdown: three, two—"
"One!"
Stelle's vision went dark, her consciousness plunging rapidly into a void.
…
"Wake up."
"Wake up, Akivili, Akivili?"
After what felt like seconds or maybe decades, Stelle was roused by a deep voice.
Akivili? Isn't that the name of the Aeon of Trailblaze…? Wait, what -vili?
Stelle snapped her eyes open and found herself in a void, the surroundings identical to the "Path Gorge" from the game.
Wait, who was calling me just now?
Stelle looked around, bewildered, and saw a white-haired, dark-skinned young man beside her, covered in scars, with golden blood flowing from them…
"Uh… I woke up too fast. I need to sleep a bit more."
Stelle gave a nervous laugh and started to collapse back down.
["Miss Stelle, please stay conscious."]
At that moment, Herta's voice sounded in her ear. ["Right now, your identity is the Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili. Please get into character."]
Get into character, my foot… Didn't you hear what They called me? Stelle grumbled to herself.
["Stelle, to make things easier for you, the Simulated Universe's system has automatically translated Aeon speech into common language. So, you might find Their speech a bit… uh, jarring, but it's effective overall."]
["Huh? That's weird. After you entered the Simulated Universe, it was Nanook of Destruction who noticed you first. Are these two Aeons that close?"]
"Akivili, I… I couldn't save my homeworld!" Nanook wailed to Stelle. "W-When I ascended, I couldn't hold it together and destroyed my home. I destroyed my own homeland!"
"I couldn't do anything!"
["Stelle, the data's a bit off. For now, stabilize Nanook. If Their divine power erupts, this mission fails."]
Stelle's mouth twitched, and she patted Nanook's shoulder consolingly. "Don't be scared. Sure, you lost your homeworld, but you… well, okay, you really don't have anything left."
Nanook: "…"
Stelle: "What's wrong? Why'd you stop talking?"
Nanook: "Waaah, Akivili, I hate you! Aren't we best friends? How didn't you recognize me?"
"Nanook" grabbed Their head, as if removing a mask, revealing a grinning face underneath.
"Get lost!"
Stelle was furious. The Aeon she least wanted to see in the Simulated Universe had appeared!
If the mission's required duration was x, Aha's appearance would make it "x + y," with y being an unknown variable.
"Nope~ Akivili, you smell so nice today… We're bros, so let me cop a feel, heh heh heh."
["Miss Stelle, don't worry. Aha's appearance is within expected calculations. You're currently in a timeline thousands of years ago, during the galactic catastrophe—'Swarm Disaster.'"]
["You and Aha are allies right now. Follow Them to the bug's origin point."]
Stelle's fists clenched. Suppressing her discomfort with Aha, she walked through the void of the Path Gorge. Soon, she heard a series of deep thumping sounds.
"Aha—It's the Stone Guy and the Many-Faced One! They're fighting!"
Hearing this, Aha sneered and burst into laughter.
"Stone Guy"… that's referring to Qlipoth of Preservation, right? Then the "Many-Faced One"… oh, I remember, it must be Tayzzyronth. According to history, only They and Oroboros of Voracity were clashing with Qlipoth.
Yup, that's gotta be it!
The human and Aeon approached the source of the sound, but when Stelle saw the fight, she was dumbfounded.
Perhaps because "Aeons are roughly the same size" and she was currently Akivili, all the Aeons, including Aha, looked about human-sized. But this caused a problem:
The cosmic grandeur was gone. So, in Stelle's eyes, the battle looked like this—
Qlipoth wielded a hammer in one hand, grabbing the white hair of a purple-skinned figure with the other, slamming it repeatedly.
The purple-skinned figure was no pushover either. Whenever Qlipoth's hammer struck, Their body would instantly shatter into countless puzzle-like pieces before reassembling.
Of course, the purple-skinned figure wasn't just taking hits passively. They opened Their mouth, emitting a harmonious chant: "Aaaah—" (divine singing).
From the purple-skinned figure's distinct traits, Their identity was clear—Xipe of Harmony.
Seeing this, Stelle even questioned her own perception system. Why were these two Aeons fighting?
And couldn't They fight in a less… elementary school way? Couldn't They have an epic, anime-style battle for 300 rounds? Was trading punches like kids fun?
"My gosh, hahaha!"
Aha, witnessing this, clutched Their head in shock, then jumped between the two Aeons, laughing and spectating. "Why're you two fighting? Aren't you both on the same side?!"
Qlipoth, still hammering Xipe, said, "Build walls, build walls, build walls, build walls…"
Xipe kept chanting, too busy to respond to Aha: "Aaaah—" (divine singing).
Stelle: … Wow.