"Let's see just who is the mortal not born in the right era."
As Leon spoke, a ghostly fire, azure mixed with dark violet, emerged from his palm.
In an instant, the ghostly fire condensed into a face mask identical to Lan's.
He fastened the mask to his face.
Sky-blue long hair, formed from the ghostly fire, grew and spread backward from where the mask clasped his face.
In a manner strikingly similar to the gash on Nanook's chest from which golden blood flowed, a breastplate with a blue-violet flame burning in its center appeared directly on Leon.
A pressure capable of rivaling Nanook's erupted into existence!
At this very moment, the Path of The Hunt, completely open to Leon, was now fully under his control.
It was no exaggeration to say that compared to Lan, the true Aeon, Leon was only missing the rank.
Don't be afraid, children. Someone even more insidious than the fire-man Baini is here!
"Would this count as the first Emanator in three thousand Amber Eras comparable to the 'Noblesse Worm'?"
Quietus looked at the scene before him, unable to hold back a sigh of emotion.
Two Aeons were about to clash.
Although one was a false god, such a spectacle was still a sight rarely seen in the world.
"You are mistaken."
Celenova indicated that his assessment of the stats was not rigorous enough.
"He is an Emanator far superior to that 'Noblesse Worm'."
Celenova looked at Leon. If the Wound-Bearer Lord weren't present, they would have been more or less affected by the pressure.
"A true proxy, the first in three thousand Amber Eras of history."
The Noblesse Worm was just another one of the Elation Aeon's amusements.
"In the world today..."
Back then, Aha had given the full power of the Path of The Elation to that worm. While at first glance it seemed similar to Leon's situation, in reality, they were worlds apart.
"Aside from Iron Tomb, which successfully achieved its 'Coronation,' no one can surpass him."
The Noblesse Worm only received the full power of the Path, but Aha did not grant it the authority to master the Path.
But Lan had granted Leon full authority over his Path.
To be passively bestowed versus actively acquiring—the two are vastly different.
To use an analogy, the Aeon account the Noblesse Worm was using was temporary, with the risk of being kicked off at any time, and it would be banned upon logging out.
Its death undoubtedly confirmed this point.
But the Aeon account Leon held was permanent.
He could log on whenever he wanted, with absolutely no risk of being banned.
In the world today, the only one with this ability is Leon.
But another with this potential is Iron Tomb, which is about to hatch.
The way Iron Tomb will bring Destruction to this galaxy is by invading Nous to modify the constants of the entire Path of The Erudition.
If Iron Tomb can truly succeed in its 'Coronation,' then in a sense, it would be of the same kind as Leon.
But it's like a shell he had someone else peel for him; there's still a significant difference compared to Leon, who obtained his personally.
"He is strong, the kind of strong that is first in all of history."
Zephyro used The Nihility to fill the missing half of his body. After his ascension, he himself was forged from the pale cast of The Nihility.
A missing arm or leg would return in an instant.
Nanook said nothing, just watching him quietly.
The purest golden flames of Destruction surged around his body, as if they would engulf him in the next second.
"So this is an Aeon..."
At this point, Leon had to admit one thing.
Even though he had logged into Lan's account, he had no means of attack that could affect Nanook.
The rank that all true Aeons possess.
Like an uncrossable chasm, it easily blocked his path.
He had no rank; he was just a pseudo-god.
And his enemy, standing before him, was the genuine Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.
Causality is a skill for smurfing in low-rank games; it's useless in high-tier matches.
Even Lan himself would be useless here; he could find no Causality related to Nanook.
Aeons are the most perfect beings in this galaxy.
At this stage, the contest came down to the depth of the Paths created through the practice of their ideals.
To put it simply, it was a clash of pure stats.
Leon's favorite kind of activity.
But he had yet to even touch the threshold of a great emperor.
Lan's account only granted him entry to that level, but the threshold of this one step was higher than the heavens.
Clashing with Nanook... if he tried hard, maybe he could manage a 30-70 split.
"You started it, so don't blame me."
The Aeon was using an invincibility hack.
There was no other way. Leon could only go all out against him.
If conventional attacks were useless, then he would have to use some unconventional ones.
"Not my type of situation..."
The moment he uttered the first sound,
with no warning whatsoever, Nanook made his move!
Whoosh!
The dharma image of Lan behind Leon, relying on a hunter's keen reflexes, instantly fired an arrow!
RUMBLE!!!
He wielded the power of the entire Path of The Hunt to counter what was, for Nanook, a mere casual blow of Destruction!
Do not underestimate an Aeon.
Their intuition far surpasses any other existence; they can immediately sense if something is amiss.
It's just that they don't care, so they don't bother with it.
You're right, but this is an Aeon. A casual blow is a lifetime for others. High stats, strong mechanics, thick HP, and heaven-defying recovery.
An existence like this, if placed as a level boss, would be something created after drinking too much bootleg alcohol!
"I'll just turn on my own hacks!"
This was the second time Leon had felt the threat of death.
If he hadn't logged into Lan's account, that single blow would have undoubtedly killed him.
Fortunately, at the last moment, he managed to shoulder his pack.
Come, miracle that breaks the deadlock!
...
When Leon came to his senses, he had arrived at a place still vivid in his memory.
Adlivun. He had just been there before coming to Amphoreus.
But unlike when he was there, this Adlivun still had a hint of life.
It's just that with this sky full of swarming insects, that last hint of life was about to be snatched away, if nothing unexpected happened.
Leon followed a faint thread of Causality with his gaze.
The young man with bronze skin was holding his dead comrade, tears streaming down his savage face, as if he hated that he couldn't destroy everything.
This location, this appearance... was there any need to say more?
The young man was the future Aeon of Destruction, Nanook!
Leon understood what the 'miracle that breaks the deadlock' was.
This wasn't as simple as just traveling through a timeline.
The past of an Aeon before their ascension cannot be traced by anyone.
One can only trace the past of their time as an Aeon. Otherwise, if Lan could find their Causality, he would have stomped the other seventeen Aeons long ago.
But this 'miracle' was indeed related to The Hunt.
How to describe it?
Let's make a hypothesis. If The Hunt also had the potential to become a Path that could guide Terminus...
what would it look like?
Leon felt it would be just like this. Let's put it more simply—
Reversing Causality.
Causality: the cause can be seen from the effect. Usually, there is a cause before there is an effect; causality cannot arise from nothing.
But now, Leon had achieved the latter.
The immortal body has an end; reversing cause and effect.
He no longer needed the existence of a 'cause' to produce an 'effect'.
Or rather, as long as he formulated the desired 'effect,' the 'cause' would be born out of thin air.
Even an Aeon was no exception.
Isn't that insane? It's completely off the charts!
But this insanity is normal. When a Path guides the birth of Terminus, it means its Aeon has become the true winner of the war of ascension.
If you say: Remembrance is freezing the world, The Harmony is assimilating the world, and The Destruction is destroying the world...
Then The Hunt would likely be like this: using the ultimate power over life and death to suppress all transgressions.
Of course, The Hunt becoming one of the four final Paths is just a hypothesis.
The Hunt might be able to guide Terminus, but it's also unlikely that The Hunt will guide Terminus.
Reversing Causality.
Strictly speaking, this should be an ability Lan awakens when he takes a new step forward on the Path of The Hunt.
Right now, Leon was just borrowing it in advance.
Did he open a cheat that can't be turned off?
Carrying the 'effect' of wanting to turn the tables, Leon began to search Nanook for a usable 'cause'.
He had originally wanted to kill two birds with one stone and nip the Aeon of Destruction in the bud.
But he found that to achieve this 'effect,' his current rank was insufficient to birth the 'cause'.
A single rank became his biggest obstacle.
Even with 'Reversing Causality,' to kill an Aeon, one needed at least the rank of a peer Aeon to do so.
While this news was regrettable for the current situation, it also meant that if one day Lan gave him his own rank, wouldn't he be able to just steamroll the galaxy?
Leon could only settle for second best, once again searching Nanook for an 'effect' that could harm him.
And just then, the swarm in the sky noticed the survivors here.
They immediately began to rush in Nanook's direction!
Leon found the 'effect' he was looking for.
"It's all your fault... all your fault...!"
Nanook panted heavily, his eyes glaring furiously at the attacking swarm!
Even as the swarm's bite was just a hair's breadth away,
he still didn't dodge or evade!
The raging fires burning in his neck, his chest, his mind—three places—seemed to want to burn the entire world to ash!
"A roar mixed with the desire for feasting and propagation."
The Swarm of Propagation flapped its wings, launching an attack on Nanook!
Nanook did not retreat a single step, the long-accumulated fury about to erupt!
Just as the two were about to clash, an azure arrow of light streaked past Nanook's eyes.
The suction force of the arrow pulled all the attacking insects to the side, dealing with them!
Nanook turned his head, looking toward the source of the light arrow.
The unfamiliar man holding a bow was now calmly looking at him.
After Nanook felt his gaze, the man spoke a sentence to him.
"Do not let the sorrow of an era become your sorrow."
"Do not give up hope. Do not let yourself be swept away and stained by the evils of a bad era just because it is bad."
This sentence struck his heart fiercely.
When he came to his senses, the man was no longer in sight.
And the swarm in the sky once again attacked.
Nanook gritted his teeth and laid down the warrior's corpse.
His eyes resolute, he took a deep breath, then opened his arms and actively walked towards the swarm!
Sometimes, a person has no choice.
He wanted to be a good person, but the world didn't give him the chance.
"I am a warrior of Adlivun!"
Nanook clenched his fists, shouting to the sky!
"I am the one who will burn the gods and destroy the world!"
Fury materialized from his body, and golden flames enveloped Nanook!
"I am the personification of 'Entropy'!"
With that one word, the swarm was instantly turned to ash!
"If dawn never existed, then let the galaxy begin to burn at this moment!"
"Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, ascends today!"
...
...
Amphoreus.
"He's gone?" Celenova was puzzled.
She looked at where Leon had just been, having felt no sign of spatial distortion.
How could he have vanished into thin air?
"Haha, could it be that he skipped the process and fast-forwarded straight to fleeing for his life?"
Quietus, on the other hand, felt this was all quite normal.
Because He always preferred the result, not the process.
Since the ending was already set, why struggle? Wasn't Leon's way much better?
Knowing he couldn't win, he skipped the resistance and fast-forwarded to escaping.
To be able to leave without a sound right under Nanook's nose was indeed a bit strange.
But since he could log into an Aeon's account, this was nothing special.
"No, you don't understand him."
Celenova shook her head. As someone who had fought him personally, she knew his nature best.
He was an absolute mad dog, one who would not shy away from anyone's blade. A mad dog who would never retreat from a fight until he had claimed his victory.
"Something's not right."
Zephyro had a bad feeling.
But why would he have such a feeling?
Nanook, an absolute powerhouse, was right here. What kind of accident could possibly happen?
There were only a handful of beings in this world who could harm the Wound-Bearer Lord.
Without exception, they were all his peers. Leon couldn't possibly be among them.
RUMBLE!
A sudden surge in the aura of Destruction blasted the three Lord Ravagers aside!
Only then was it seen that Leon, at some unknown point, had reappeared in his original position.
And along with his return came an anomaly on Nanook.
Within the gash on his chest, the golden flames flowing like blood had, without a sound, gained a touch of ghostly blue.
It was the flame of vengeance, symbolizing The Hunt.
Nanook lowered his gaze, just looking at Leon.
"Only one arrow, but that's enough."
Leon murmured, feeling the change brought by this 'Reversing Causality'.
By means of the 'Causality' he had just tainted him with, he finally had a chance, in the truest sense, to fire an arrow at Nanook.
The way Leon executed 'Reversing Causality' was actually very simple.
Just feeding him a line of motivational chicken soup.
An Aeon, when it comes down to it, is just a slave to fate.
From the moment he was born, he was destined to become a god. There was no path of refusal for him to choose.
Nanook was bound to become an Aeon.
So, as long as one left him with the guidance that 'you can refuse fate' before his ascension to Aeonhood...
this 'effect,' after his ascension, would become a bullet crossing the long river of time, hitting him right between the eyes on this day when he meets the 'cause' again.
And it would become the key for Leon to turn the tide of battle!
*
*
The beginning of the legend, the back kitchen was a sea of chaos.
A genius chef descended from another world, his recipe book thicker than Teacher Kexia's textbook.
The diners fell into a frenzy, peers took up arms against each other, disputes arose one after another, and even the most discerning food critics fell silent.
Decades of conflict left only a shattered food street, a dark age.
But there are still chefs who chase the flame, forging ahead in the grand endeavor of 'cuisine'.
Baini: "...Are we sure this doesn't count as false advertising?"
Tailian: "But isn't it interesting~"
____
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