Chapter 246: Lord of Silence

Lord of Silence.

Genius Society Number Four, Polka Kakamond.

Her existence itself is an enigma. Nobody knew the reasons behind her deeds, only that these deeds were enough to change the entire universe.

For once, the outside world speculated that she orchestrated the death of Mechanical Emperor Rubert, who was similarly a part of the Genius Society. The latter led all mechanical lifeforms in a war against biological and organic beings.

That wasn't all.

Polka Kakamond's recorded kills based on Genius Society members were four, Rubert included. One of them was a genius society member who attempted to interpret Finality.

It became a common knowledge to some relevant people that Polka Kkakamond's appearance was related to Finality.

Going further the scope was the Circle of Knowledge, the special cognition ability possessed by scholars. Once the Circle of Knowledge expands, the scholars themselves gain part of an Aeon's characteristics, namely their unpredictability.

Just their mere existence throws the predetermined future into a disorder.

With these, an image of Polka Kakamond could be formed.

'Besides Tayzzyronth, only He is related to Finality.'

Aleph's emergence brought Herta's plans by about fifty or so years. She was dedicated to seeking answers to unanswerable questions. She could go as far as to attract trouble itself just to do so.

In Herta's words, this is the will to seek truth.

"Lord of Silence."

For the third time, she called out Polka Kakamond's title.

A blink later, the woman in the portrait was gone. It was as if her image never existed in the first place.

Herta stood in place. 

Somewhere…

Right around the corner of her office, she knew someone was there.

"Why fall silent? Is this not what you seek?"

It was a woman's voice. It does not have a distinct tone, voice, and pitch. Yet, a voice belonging to a mature woman was generated right in her mind.

It reminded Herta of what Aleph did. He did not speak; words still came out of him. 

"Five thousand, three hundred, and twenty-one. Are you aware of what it means?"

Despite the cold feeling on the back of her puppet, she faced the direction of the voice's origin.

There, she saw a woman who looked exactly like the portrait's. Her entire face was covered by multi-colored mesh. Only her curvaceous body was revealed—a defining trait of the Lord of Silence.

'The feeling of nonexistence. I am certain of it.'

The strangest thing about Polka Kakamond was her 'existence'. She did not 'exist' in the same plane as Herta's nor anybody else.

'It is similar to Him.' 

One other 'person' popped up in her mind. 

"It is the number of people who went beyond the circle." Polka Kakamond answered her rhetorics. "The surprise I felt was… irreplaceable."

Herta did not know when Polka Kakamond started playing with a surgical knife.

"Were you planning to kill them all?"

"I have to correct you, dear."

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Polka Kakamond stepped closer and closer to Herta until she stopped right in front of her.

"I killed them all."

"Nothing less from you."

Herta did not have any qualms praising her.

Swoosh-!

The cold touch of the surgical blade contacted Herta's neck. Consequently, every single puppet of hers fell down to the ground.

Thud-!

The lights went off next.

Bam-!

The dim lights of the portraits were the only unaffected light sources amidst everything. It was more than enough to reveal Herta's figure.

She was no longer the same as her puppets. Wearing a huge conical hat and her accompanying magic wand, Herta used its end to tap on the ground.

Bam-!

The distance between her and Polka Kakamond increased exponentially. The office became large enough to boast several thousand kilometers. It was elongated to stretch up to this size. The portraits hanging beside were replicated over and over again.

Under the illumination of the portraits' dim lights, mirror-like cracks were revealed all over the elongated office. Each fragment reflected Herta's true appearance.

Then…

Bzzt-!

Countless rays made of similarly countless colors were fired from each fragment. It was enough to cover the entire elongated office.

Click.

A sudden change occurred amidst everything. Some of the rays of light mysteriously went off-course, thus hitting the other rays that were about to strike Polka Kakamond.

Bam-!

It triggered a chain reaction that caused the entire office to experience the bombing of thousands of nuclear bombs. The rays of light counteracted each other, thus causing virtually zero harm on Polka Kakamond.

The latter was walking continuously towards her.

As a response to this, Herta smiled.

Zoom-!

Time was rewound. The massive explosion was brought back to reality. It wasn't merely that. 

All of Herta's 'reflections' on the mirror solidified. Each Herta possessed the projection of a planet on her back.

Throughout countless years, these planets were what she laid her eyes on. Their composition down to their smallest fluctuations did not escape her sight. It was a priviledge given to Nous' Emanators.

When she was given the [Door]'s authority, she found a use for these planets.

"I gave you access to my authority. Feel free to use it as you wish."

Zoom-!

The elongated office area became twisted before falling into nothingness. This trend ensued even on the place Herta stood.

The fusion between Herta's own power and Aleph's [Infinity] amped the power of the [Door] concept that was unimaginable to its original level.

After all the special treatment he gave to her, Herta implicitly agreed to become his Emanator.

'To shift the world in your favor… Your true nature becomes more and more visible.'

This brief encounter was enough for Herta to use another ability of the [Door]'s—replication.

She did not aim to copy the Lord of Silence's ability. She did plan to understand it through attempted replication, however.

Polka Kakamond's power was related to shifting probabilities to her whims. The world acts to her favor in the same manner it protects her from any plausible harm.

In simpler terms, it was plot armor materialized.

Herta gained more answers than what she thought.

However…

"Was this the nature of the anomaly? It does not follow any conventions at all."

…she wasn't the only one who gained answers.