The moment the words left Bai Ming's lips, the fabricated space itself shuddered.
The very substance flowing beneath her feet rippled, and she nearly lost her footing.
"Whoa, easy there!" she yelped, hands flying up in a placating gesture. "It was just a question! If it's a no, it's a no! We can still talk this out!"
But the colossal being before her was not appeased. The massive man—if 'man' was even the right term—simply stared, his immense silence more intimidating than any roar. His golden eyes, burning with a stern, ancient light, held her pinned in place. If this were a game, Bai Ming was sure a subtitle would be hovering beneath her: [The Aeon is silently judging you.]
His reaction was puzzling. If he were truly angry, a mere flick of his wrist could probably send her sailing into the heart of a distant nebula. So why the silent treatment?
Did I misread the situation? she wondered.
"Okay, okay! Scratch the black-haired, long straight hair big sister!" she offered, backtracking rapidly.
"…" The silence deepened.
"Someone like March would be great too!"
"…" The void of sound was absolute.
"Or a cute little loli! I'm not picky!"
"…" Only the faint, ethereal hum of the space answered her.
"Look, at this point, I'll take just the white hair and red pupil attributes! That's the core package!"
A voice, the same one that had guided her here, hissed in her ear, sharp with exasperation. "Stop asking!"
"Wha—?"
"He means do not assume His gender!"
"Huh—?!" Bai Ming blurted out, her own surprise echoing in the emptiness. "How can I not assume a gender? It's either male or female! Unless... are you an attack helicopter?"
"…"
The mysterious voice seemed to short-circuit, rendered speechless by her sheer audacity. After a strained pause, it finally replied, its tone measured and profound. "The Aeons exist beyond such mortal concepts. To assign Them a gender is to impose a limitation They transcended eons ago. It is a matter of no consequence."
"No consequence?"
Bai Ming's gaze was drawn back to the magnificent being before her. The sheer scale of His presence, the raw power that seemed to be the very fabric of His form... and she was worried about whether to use 'he' or 'she'? The absurdity of it crashed down on her. Of course. For something so vast and ancient, what meaning could such a trivial label possibly hold?
The moment that understanding crystallized in her mind, a familiar heat ignited in her chest—a burning star coming to life. The space around her began to dissolve, its edges fraying like old cloth.
No! Not yet!
Her consciousness was being reeled back in, pulled away from this divine audience. Panic flared. She had only just arrived, and she hadn't gotten what she came for!
As the world faded to a blur, she poured all her will into a final, desperate plea, shouting into the dissolving grandeur. "If you can hear me! Please, remove the restriction! Let the others see the Valkyrie armor too! I want to share this with them! You're an Aeon! You can do that, can't you?!"
There was no spoken answer, no thunderous decree.
But in the last sliver of vanishing perception, as she teetered on the brink of return, she saw it—the barest, almost imperceptible incline of that magnificent head.
A nod.
Had He... agreed?
---
Reality snapped back into place with the force of a thunderclap. The sterile station air filled her lungs, the screech of metal and the Doomsday Beast's roar assaulting her ears. But something was different. She was clad not in her ordinary clothes, but in a shell of hardened, crimson armor, its edges glowing with contained furnace-heat. [Vermillion Knight: Eclipse]. It was real, solid, and unmistakably there.
The Aeon had listened. He had reached across dimensions and shattered the system's invisible shackles.
But awe was a luxury she couldn't afford. The immediate, visceral threat hadn't vanished. The Doomsday Beast's obliterating beam was still hammering into her, a torrent of pure white annihilation. The new armor groaned under the strain, its brilliant red plating already scorched and smoking. She was still the shield, planted firmly before a stunned March 7th.
I can't fall. Not now. Not while I'm protecting her.
The thought was a brand seared into her mind, a focal point for her wavering strength.
Then, the pain returned—a familiar, terrifying agony erupting from her chest. It was the power core, the source of this borrowed power, and it was tearing her apart from the inside. It was a wildfire racing along her nerves, consuming her.
One second. Her bones felt like they were vibrating into dust.
Two seconds.Her vision swam with sparks of white-hot pain.
Three seconds.It was too much. The vessel was too small for the ocean raging within.
A scream was ripped from her throat, raw and ragged. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"
And with it, a cataclysm was unleashed.
A torrent of golden light, incandescent and furious, erupted from her chest. It wasn't a neat beam; it was a raw eruption of stellar fury, a volcano's heart given form. The Doomsday Beast's white beam didn't just get pushed back—it was obliterated, consumed by the overwhelming, flame-wreathed gold.
The tide of battle turned in a single, breathtaking instant.
Where once she had been on the verge of being erased, Bai Ming was now the source of annihilation. The golden ray hammered into the Doomsday Beast, driving it down, smashing its colossal form into the platform with earth-shattering force. A crater bloomed from the impact, but Bai Ming's assault did not cease. The beam continued to pour forth, an unending geyser of power.
And her scream had not stopped; it had only grown more hoarse, more desperate. This wasn't a controlled attack. It was a catastrophic release.
Himeko watched, her usual composure shattered, golden eyes wide with disbelief. She had theorized about Bai Ming's potential, but witnessing this—a human channeling power to trade blows with a planet-killing beast—defied all logic.
March 7th's initial cheer died in her throat, her joyful expression morphing into one of dawning horror. "Bai Ming...?" she whispered. This wasn't a victory. This was a meltdown. She was destroying herself. "Someone, help her! Please!"
As if answering her prayer, a figure dropped from the gantries above—a dark silhouette plummeting through the hazy, energy-charged air.
He moved with impossible speed, diving directly into the path of the devastating golden ray, his form a blade cutting through the storm, heading straight for its raging heart.
-------
A/n: Hey over on my patreon there are currently two for the time being exclusive books which are
Life Simulator: Starting in Genshin Impact!
Zenless Zone Zero: Loving Daily Life Starting in New Eridu
patreon.com/deadlygoober