The End of an Era
As we are returns to the Golden Palace, people are scrambling through the streets. Some are spouting nonsense about an impending doomsday and others are just trying to into their homes. On the other hand, our group is just walking back to the hotel room.
"What poor timing, just as the prospect of war approaches, this happens," Milla says.
"Think about it this way, there's a good chance any potential war is delayed after everyone wakes up," Aurelia says.
"What do you think will happen? Is everyone just going to collapse unconscious? And is it possible for someone to stay awake?" I ask.
"If I had to guess, one of two things will occur. It's either as you said, every just falls unconscious where they stand, or we will go into a kind of stasis state, similar to when we undergo an evolution," Lia says.
"Hold on, 'we', since when do you evolve? Milla asks.
"Several months now, did I not mention it?"
"Oh, I guess my doppelganger never told you, Lia's also a Dragon like Cordelia now," Aurelia says.
"You know what, I'm not gonna even ask," Milla says as she slides open the front door of the Golden Palace.
"Moving back to the previous topic, I think we're forgetting about who is managing the System and how much power they have. For all we know, it could just be the passing of a mere second for us. Akkre could just stop time here and do whatever it is he wants to do," Aurelia says.
"That reminds me, someone named Akkre was at the Mountain for a while," Milla says.
"Ten tails?" I ask.
"Transparent tails that look like stars?" Lia asks.
"Annoying and unreasonable?" Aurelia asks.
"Yeah, him," Milla says.
"What was he doing?" Aurelia asks.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing, at least from what I could tell. He simply hanging around in my office, taking up space. And I couldn't even do anything about him because he's so much stronger than I am," Milla says.
As we are walking up to the room Milla has rented, she just complains the whole time about how annoying Akkre was. Draining the food budget, getting her subordinates wasted, and generally being a nuisance.
"That sound like him, what did he want?" Aurelia asks.
"I have no idea, he just hung around without saying his intentions, then all of a sudden he left without saying a word," Milla says as we enter her room.
"Only a few minutes left now," Lia says.
"So how about a game of cards to the time?"
"No sense of agency, I swear," Milla says.
"From the looks of it, it's not just her. I don't think any of us have any sense of agency in regards to this forced sleep," Aurelia says.
"I wonder if we can see what's actually going to happen when we sleep," I say.
[Authorisation sufficient, displaying content].
"Wait, I actually can see what's going on."
"Then don't keep us waiting, we don't have much time," Milla says.
"I know, I'm reading it, hold on. Let's see, a system update, the world of Grauntia being covered by a shield that isolates it from the cosmos, and a merge with something called Eternal Universe. I don't have any idea what most of that means," I say.
"I think... hey I'm getting a bit... sleepy."
Just as Aurelia says that I also begin to feel drowsy as I see a cocoon quickly begin to form around me as well as everyone else. It feels similar to when I evolve, just as Lia said earlier. As the cocoon fully forms, my thoughts escape me as I lose consciousness.
***Akkre***
"And so end another chapter for the Records of Eternity," I say.
"So you just record what people do in a journal? Am I in it?" Serabane asks.
"Only if the main focus is connected to me in some way, and yes, you are it this one. Now for a name... I think I'll call this one the Evolution of the God Slayer."
"Why? She hasn't killed any Gods," Tsuki asks.
"But she has shown a clear desire to do so and she still hasn't reached her full potential yet so I'm sure she'll keep her word on this point," I say.
"Speaking of her, it's interesting how everyone else is panicking, but Cordelia and her friends are just so nonchalant about the whole thing," Tsuki says.
"I always knew she was an odd one," Serabane says.
"Well, we all knew she was a bit off in the head, but now that everything has been settled on this end I can get around to creating a new universe," I say.
"Oh, I want to watch, I've never seen the birth of a new universe before," Serabane says.
"It's quite interesting to watch, lots of bright sparkling lights," Tsuki says.
"Honestly, I could do without the light show. This time I don't need to consult Raziel though since I can just copy the process I used when I made Grauntia since the base is similar," I say.
"What did you need to see Raziel about?" Serabane asks.
"Nothing too much, I needed to get some information on some concepts to construct the system of Grauntia. But I do need to go speak with Chronos about a few things, so lets pay the old man a visit."