Chapter 179: Seven-o-clock

The creation of the Second Divine Key took an entire day. By the time they were finished, it was already midnight.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Aleph wasn't the only one strolling the streets at midnight. There were people smoking cigarettes, people who ate snacks, and so on.

Despite this, his mind was wandering over somewhere else.

'These achievements… Every firsts has it, and it's no exception…'

A total of four major achievements appeared after he had sex with Kurumi.

[Touchdown: Reach the final base for the first time.]

[Conqueror of Time: Reach the final base with Tokisaki Kurumi.]

[I'm Still Standing: Persist on the battlefield for more than eight hours.]

[Wait, it's Not Over Yet?: Fight three girls at once with a minimum duration of eight hours.]

The first achievement, [Touchdown], brought that [Red Strings of Fate (Upgrade)]. Every time he came inside Kurumi, his elemental sight fed back the details of her reiyoku levels increasing. 

It did not stop there. Her authority of Time, which should have been restricted by this world, became slightly more complete. When he asked Kurumi later on, she told him that one of the five restricted "Bullets" became usable. She originally held the authority to meddle with the past and future, but her arrival to this world sealed them.

Now, one of her strong abilities—the power to freeze time—had returned.

As for the other three achievements…

[Unique Skill: Investigator]

[Spiritron Outfit: Fae Knight]

[Limited Instance — Izumo (See More)]

'Another unique skill…'

Aleph couldn't help but think of Great Sage. Its activation requirements were astringent enough, to the point he painted a mark on himself for the Cocoon to see.

'Spiritron… These are the stuff that Heroic Spirits wore.'

He placed it aside and stared at the final entry. This was where things became interesting.

'...No way.'

His heart sank due to his prior guesses. He opened this entry and saw more information.

[Limited Instance — Izumo: A planet destined to end from the beginning. It is a place where despair and hope collide. Unfortunately, its epilogue has been decided the moment it's prologue was written.]

[...interfering with its destined trajectory grants greater rewards.]

[Note 1: It is a place where high-leveled lifeforms exist. If direct contact to the said lifeform is deemed to be fatal, the mission ends.]

[Note 2: External items (with the exception of bound items) could not be brought to the instance.]

[Note 3: A quota of two items will be given at the start of the instance. It allows you to bring items from the instance upon return. The quota expands the greater your influence to the instance's predetermined trajectory.]

…

Unlike the instance in Shibuya, there are more than ten notes below it. That alone explains how complicated Aleph's travel to Izumo was. Not to mention, he was completely familiar with this place.

'Let's see. One, no, two Aeons. IX was revealed in version 2.1. Then, Finality was hinted to be connected to it in the version…'

Aleph has an idea on how the Cocoon fares compared to Aeons. Honkai Impact 3rd's Part 1.5 had a slower chapter release during the war. Sometimes, their servers shut down and the games went to a hiatus.

It was for such a reason that he was able to quickly catch up with the latest story after the war ended.

'Two Aeons… How much I could gain depends on what I do.'

Aleph's eyes scrolled through the notes until he found a familiar one.

[Note 8: Upon encountering fatal danger to the projected body, the instance ends.]

He was familiar with how limited instances work based on his trip to Shibuya. For once, his body was a complete replica. It was similar to his state in the training space.

Meaning to say, he has a huge killer move readily available.

For a while, Aleph thought of his current level. 

'Based on the standards on the Sanctum…'

Three months was long enough for him to gain more achievements, and in turn, rewards. His visit to the Sanctum became more often, though with varying levels of authority.

Through that, he managed to peek at the 'standards' set by the people of that world.

Their power system described supernatural-powered lifeforms with letters. Grade F up to Grade A denoted combatants who could only stay on a habitable planet.

Only the Beyond Grade As could survive the radiation from outer space with ease. Each of their considerably strong attacks could destroy a planet.

Later on, Aleph found out that the so-called Beyond Grade A was merely a vague term used by the recent civilizations. The older ones, such as the Evolutionary Civilization where his Evolution Cube came from, classified them as Grade S and Grade SS. Their destructive prowess scaled with their levels.

As for the beings above that…

'The theoretical Transcendent Grade.'

It was a being whose existence itself lied beyond comprehension. Some of the papers he saw described them as 'transcendent' due to the change to their base information. All of the civilizations who wrote on the Sanctum wished for the appearance of a Transcendent Grade due to unknown reasons.

Aleph could vaguely guess it was related to a crisis of sorts.

'Hm…'

His footsteps stopped once he arrived in front of the hotel room. The memories of last night flashed inside his mind.

He resisted that urge and went inside the room.

Moments later, Kurumi crept up from his shadows. She hugged him from behind, her heartbeats becoming more noticeable.

"Don't we have something important to do~?"

"...Right."

With a light exhale, Aleph calmed his mind down. He let Kurumi do her job. 

His sight changed from the hotel room to a dark-red space. Numerous things could be seen inside her shadow space, ranging from common utilities down to the weapons Aleph gave to her.

Amidst them all, he saw three floating girls. They were encased inside a dark-red field. Time was frozen for them.

Kurumi let go of her embrace. She held his hand and guided him towards one of the girls. The puppet on her hand reminded Aleph of the girl he met before.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"...Yes."

The seventh eruption taught Aleph a big lesson. Their manpower wasn't enough. He could clean up the honkai beasts once the Herrschers are dealt with, but it was during that time window did destructive things occur.

At the very least, having more helping hands does not harm them.

It was just that Aleph was hesitant on "dragging" these girls to their fight. But then, Kurumi argued that he was also the reason why they could escape the predetermined fate given by the First Spirit.

In the end, he made a compromise.

Click.

A phantom of a clock appeared behind Kurumi's back. She pointed the gun's barrel to the direction of the seven-o-clock. She then pointed it towards Yoshino.

Bang-!

From this moment onward, time continued for the sleeping Spirit.