"No wonder I was able to get such vital intelligence about the future from this card game..."
Ron thoughtfully stroked his chin, falling into contemplation as he watched the text on the light screen.
Upon seeing the cards presented by [The Elation] Aha, Ron understood exactly what the Aeon intended to do.
This card game was a deduction of the future within this simulation, and the cards, each representing various concepts, were proof of that.
The cards Ron currently held all represented the powers he possessed and the Aeons he had come into contact with. With a simple thought, Ron understood that these cards likely represented the forces he could attempt to utilize going forward...
So... what cards did [The Elation] Aha hold?
Ron watched the screen thoughtfully as the scene continued to play out—
[The Elation] Aha, his face completely shrouded in deep,漆黑 inky blackness, ceased his perpetual light laughter. His entire demeanor seemed to shift, becoming slightly more solemn. With great seriousness, he drew a card from the deck he held...
Painted upon it were the defeated remnants of the Antimatter Legion and the thugs of the Annihilation Gang. Having lost their god, they had not lost their power, as the Path of [The Destruction] had not yet been fully consumed. On the contrary, the death of [The Destruction] Nanook had placed them under immense pressure.
This band of madmen had gathered together, frantically throwing themselves at one civilization after another, tearing apart planet after planet. Their faces were etched with madness, their images cramming the entire surface of the card.
[The Elation] Aha played the card, then made a gentle "please" gesture, indicating that it was Ron's turn to play...
As if he had grasped the rules without being taught, the Ron in the simulation pondered for a moment before playing the card emblazoned with the "Sword of Salvation" and the "Round Table Hall." The card was placed atop the one Aha had played, completely covering the frenzied faces of the Antimatter Legion and the Annihilation Gang.
Watching the screen, Ron instantly understood the rules of this card game.
The cards in Aha's hand were Ron's enemies. Ron needed to play his own cards, one by one, to cover those played by Aha, representing his ability to use these powers to resolve the potential enemies and troubles in reality, thereby deducing the future's course...
Ron thought to himself, watching as [The Elation] Aha on the screen continuously played his cards. Whether it was the winged Denizens of Abundance or the remnants of the struggling Swarm, most of the calamities in the sea of stars became cards in Aha's hand, landing on the table as Ron's foreseeable future enemies.
And Ron, too, played his cards one after another, steadily emptying his hand to suppress the troubles Aha laid out...
After both sides had used up a good portion of their hands, [The Elation] Aha plucked out a new card and gently placed it on their "card table"—
Upon this card was painted a dim and ochre-red, dead sun. Beneath the reflection of this ochre sun, a crimson ocean churned with violent waves.
An enchanting melody, like a siren's call, drifted from the roar of the fierce tide... Ron was momentarily stunned by this bait-like song, instantly realizing that it was luring prey to the hook, creating a delectable meal.
A fanged, tentacled neck surfaced from the crimson waves. Its body was a mountainous sea of writhing flesh, and upon this squirming mass were tens of thousands of giant maws, lined with the teeth of sharks, all gaping greedily, filled with hunger and avarice.
Pulsating lilac flames flickered across its body, dancing in time with the parting of cherry lips on a graceful upper torso that rose from the bloated mountain of flesh, like atmospheric lights accompanying the song.
Ron knew that its soft, white bosom and its graceful, gentle song were no salvation meant to soothe anxiety. Yet, for a split second, he was still bewitched, unable to resist falling into the lantern-lure-like tenderness as a terrifyingly incomprehensible thought arose in his mind—
In that instant... Ron wanted to be eaten by it.
Although he regained his senses a moment later, it was enough to instill in Ron a sliver of reverence for it... It was truly a terrifying ancient beast!
Without sufficient rationality to resist the temptation of its song, even an Aeon would likely descend obediently into its abyssal maw, to be greedily chewed and swallowed. Only their final, dying screams would continue to echo through this sea of stars; there would be no possibility of survival...
[The Voracity] Ouroboros... why would it become an enemy as well?
Watching the screen, Ron pondered for a moment but didn't dwell on the question for long.
[The Voracity] Ouroboros had always been a being of chaotic thought, its only desire to devour everything. Its greed was enough to place it in opposition to all other Aeons.
Though Ron had no wish to provoke such a terrifying enemy... it didn't mean it wouldn't stand in his way.
It was, after all, logical...
Ron thought to himself, watching the screen continue.
The Ron in the simulation showed no hesitation. He immediately drew a card and slapped it down on top of [The Voracity] Ouroboros—
That card depicted a headless, golden colossus. [The Preservation] Qlipoth and [The Voracity] Ouroboros had been mortal enemies since the time of the Ancient Beast War. They had endured to this day and would certainly not mind finishing the battle they had never truly completed...
[The Elation] Aha played another card. Its face depicted a set of balanced scales. In the background, shadows pulled taut the resilient chains of causality. Slender threads of cause and effect bound everything, dragging all of creation into the surveillance network it had woven, pulling it down into the quagmire of [The Equilibrium]...
Its form was unknown, its motives were unknown, everything about it was unknown, yet it had landed on the card table, becoming Ron's enemy.
Several golden chips fell onto the scales on the card, splashing golden ripples across the tray.
Suddenly, the cards in the simulated Ron's hand began to burn. Several Aeons who should have served as allies were incinerated, vanishing from his grasp.
Watching this, Ron couldn't help but frown slightly.
"[The Equilibrium] HooH... It will prevent me from borrowing the power of these Aeons?"
"That's right... these Aeons don't really have a deep relationship with the 'me' in the simulation. It was essentially a single encounter. They would probably only offer aid because the troubles I face are also their enemies..."
"But [The Equilibrium] HooH... that old schemer who appeared during the Swarm Disaster, hiding in the deepest shadows. Who knows what kind of relationships it has with the other Aeons, or how the power of [The Equilibrium] achieves its so-called 'balance'..."
Ron thought pensively, feeling troubled for a moment.
Because of the existence of that old bastard [The Equilibrium] HooH, Ron now had no cards left to play.
Although he had already gained a great deal of intelligence from the game, it was clear that [The Elation] Aha still held a few cards, meaning more enemies were still lurking...
Ron didn't want to lose the game just because he'd reached [The Equilibrium] HooH... He felt that there was certainly a larger, more important enemy behind it...
He sighed softly, watching the screen play on:
The few cards in the simulated Ron's hand were all burnt to a crisp. Facing [The Elation] Aha, he could only sigh in resignation, spreading his hands to show he was out of options.
But [The Elation] Aha did not let Ron fail completely. He gave a light snap of his fingers, and a brand-new card materialized from thin air, gently landing on top of the card representing [The Equilibrium] HooH...
Ron looked closely. The card was imprinted with a colorful clown—a Joker from a deck of playing cards.
It was a colored illustration of [The Elation] Aha himself. In the picture, he was bowing politely, a rapier clutched behind his back. He looked to be hiding a dagger behind his smile, clearly prepared for a fight.
"[The Elation] Aha... of course. He himself is a trump card, more than enough to suppress [The Equilibrium] HooH and restore balance to the situation..."
Ron murmured, then his eyes widened as he stared intently at the screen—
Aha could help him one more time, but he clearly wouldn't be able to help him solve the troubles that would appear next.
This meant that, with his resources completely exhausted, the enemy he was about to face was the one who would inevitably bring this simulation to an end...
Who could it be? Which Aeon?
Ron watched the screen with intense focus. The Aha in the simulation suddenly became extremely grave. With utmost seriousness, he drew one last card from his hand and placed it steadily on their "card table"—
On that card was endless darkness. A single point of light ignited at the far end of that darkness. A being could be heard whispering fragmented prophecies as it traveled against the flow of the漆黑 inky black River of Time. On its body, time and fate began an infinite reversal. "Fate" had become its plaything, moving entirely according to its will.
The moment this card was played, the chains of "Fate" binding Ron seemed to tighten for an instant. He felt a gaze cast from the end of those chains, a gaze that came from the future, and it was filled with malice.
This card game... was completely over.
The image on the light screen faded, and new lines of text appeared:
[You have completed the card game with [The Elation] Aha. This Aeon has secretly informed you of several enemies through this game, but the trail was still caught by [The Finality] Terminus, who cast its gaze upon your location.]
[[The Elation] Aha immediately throws on his cloak and departs, leaving you to stand alone, enduring the scrutiny from the end of fate.]
[You feel the chains of "Fate" upon you tighten slightly. You are now more severely restrained by the shackles of the Primum Mobile.]
Recalling the scene that had just played out, Ron stroked his chin thoughtfully and muttered to himself:
"[The Finality] Terminus... is it?"
"A being that moves against time, whispering prophecies that are guaranteed to come true—legend says it was born at the end of time and travels upstream against the River of Time, prophesying everything it has seen from the future."
"Looking at it now... perhaps it isn't just prophesying."
"It comes from the end of time, correcting the mistakes of the past bit by bit, ensuring that everything that has occurred will inevitably lead to the destined future in which it can be born... Why does that feel like some kind of automatic error-correction mechanism in a program?"
Ron thoughtfully stroked his chin, his mind now filled with new speculations about [The Finality] Terminus.
Since it represents a destiny that is bound to be realized and is actively trying to correct an "abnormal" history... could it be the very Aeon that controls the fate enveloping the entire sea of stars, manipulating everything to proceed according to its will?
Thinking about it carefully, it made a lot of sense... After all, [The Finality] Terminus needed to ensure its own birth, so naturally, it had to control everything in the past to prevent any deviation from the worldline where it is born...
It was the main culprit for the bleak, dark undertones painted across this false sea of stars.
If it wasn't dealt with, everything would proceed toward its destined, miserable fate.
...It was time to start thinking about how to solve this massive problem.