[You could give it a try~ little Yuzu.]
The tiny Vita figurine encouraged Yuzu, though her attitude was less about genuine support and more about enjoying the show.
Fortunately, Miss Griseo was far more serious.
She explained,
[While it might seem easy for us to forge paths, the truth is, aside from the support from our aunt, a lot depends on our own qualities.]
[After all, a Path is the embodiment of one's own will. If your will isn't firm enough—if you don't even know what you're doing, what you want, or what you're striving for—then it's not just about forging a Path; even setting foot on one would be incredibly difficult.]
At that moment, the hazy veil was finally lifted, if only a little.
Through the conversation between the chibi Griseo and the chibi content creator, the audience in the real world gained a clearer understanding of the situation.
Some had vaguely guessed parts of it before, but now, more pieces connected, forming a coherent picture.
"I never expected this!"
"So that's how it is…"
Some gasped in awe, others looked on with admiration.
Some prayed, while others let their imaginations soar.
Indeed!
So-called Aeons are highly abstract conceptual entities.
They are, one might say, celestial beings with consciousness, reigning over Paths, embodying them, and holding absolute authority over them.
In terms of scale, they are nearly equivalent to the world itself.
The universe laughs with them and weeps because of them.
Every Path is a highly distilled representation of their will.
It's often said that Aeons are bound by their Paths, only able to act in ways related to them—as if they gained power and ascended but lost their freedom.
But in reality!
It's much like how every person acts according to their own logic, perspectives, and will when viewing things.
Aeons are no different.
They hold absolute interpretive authority over their own Paths.
The so-called binding force of a Path is merely mortals projecting their assumptions onto them.
Whatever they do, they firmly believe they are walking their own Path.
Doubt?
That's practically impossible.
They are like rules—sublime and revered.
When mortals, consciously or not, share a will similar to an Aeon's Path and genuinely accept the Aeon's Path and the meaning it represents, then they will set foot on that Path, becoming Pathstriders walking the same road as that Aeon.
Moreover, how far one can go on this Path, following in the Aeon's footsteps, depends entirely on oneself. The further one goes, the greater their strength.
But Aeons are not like gods of faith.
Although the mechanics of Paths easily foster belief, it has been confirmed time and again that Aeons simply do not care about such things.
The number of followers means little to them.
At most, they might feel a slight happiness knowing there are companions walking the same Path, but that's all.
The strength of an Aeon relates only to the concept of their Path.
Generally speaking, the broader the Path, the stronger the Aeon; the narrower the Path, the more fragile the Aeon.
Yet even so!
Often, whether a Path is narrow isn't something easily discernible.
A Path you thought was narrow might later evolve new interpretations, further expanding its boundaries.
Anything is possible.
But even knowing this, many in the real world couldn't help but be captivated.
It's a pity!
The basic premise of this review video is that Miss Yuzu is sharing content for netizens in her time—a future where theories like these are probably common knowledge, needing no further explanation.
The fact that any of this was explained at all is thanks to the content creator's kindness.
As for wanting to know how many Aeons there are in the future world—that's something you definitely won't find the answer to here.
But what can you do?!
Among the known ones, let's count:
There's Mobius, the Sakura-Rin sisters, Eden, Griseo, and likely Elysia, Kiana, Vill-V, and others… who are probably Aeons.
Then there's Elation (Aha), Harmony (Xipe), Enigmata (Mythus), and that so-called Amber Lord (Qlipoth?)…
That's already quite a few.
Even though it once seemed like Aeons were a dime a dozen—every girl featured turned out to be one—upon second thought, future Griseo herself admitted that this was all because of Kiana.
It was something she did in the future that became the basis for all this.
Could it be simply understood that, in the future, as long as certain conditions are met, she can create Aeons?
Wantonly so?
Some higher-ups, as expected, still don't get it.
Their minds started racing.
They really treat this like some deification roster, thinking that if you're on good terms, you can snag a good position—at the very least, secure immortality.
Meanwhile, Vill-V and the others continued their commentary, half-jokingly holding forth.
[The Paths of Aeons often intersect and even partially overlap. If the broader environment changes, it can cause upheavals as well.]
[For example, after Permanence died, the Path split into Propagation and Abundance.]
[Harmony devoured Order, leading to Order's apparent fall, almost ceasing activity.]
To use the simplest metaphor:
The original universe was like a fixed cake.
If you take a bigger share, someone else gets less.
Aeons continuously walk their Paths.
When they encounter obstacles during this process or feel they've reached a limit, it's only natural for them to clash.
Otherwise!
It's not just the examples mentioned above; many other Paths also have overlaps.
In fact, aside from Nihility (IX), all other Paths could more or less be categorized under Existence. If they were to devour and integrate each other, forming a Path of Existence, it wouldn't be impossible.
Of course!
This itself is a false proposition.
If Existence could truly become an Aeon, there wouldn't be so many other Aeons.
Precisely because Existence fundamentally cannot become an Aeon, all these other concepts emerged.
Perhaps this in itself is a form of existence—no one can really say.
But!
They mentioned:
The future Kiana arrived.
Terrifyingly powerful.
[Aeons?]
[She's everywhere now!]
She redrew the rules of the game.
Propelling the entire universe to continuously expand from its original state.
Much like governing a country:
If you focus on internal strife, you only grow weaker.
But if you keep expanding your territories, so what if the nobles seize more land? There's plenty outside to conquer.
With attention turned outward, certain contradictions naturally dissolve.
Aeons no longer need to clash, and Paths can be walked smoothly.
It was like a full liberation—more freedom, even gradually extending across countless worlds.
They could even collaborate.
After all, they aren't fools.
Trying to devour another Aeon is incredibly difficult.
They're all on the same scale; no matter how weak one might be, how weak could they really be?
And it's easy to end up with indigestion.
Really, what's the point?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.