Chapter 292: Cost of Failure

Akivili's traces had been wiped clean in the 'past'. Looking at it in the 'past' would only fail. That was why Aleph chose to do the opposite; he went and looked at the future.

His Infinity symbolized infinite possibilities. These possibilities mainly occur in the present and future. 

Once accompanied by it, Terminus' influence will disappear. It is the equivalent of holy water to a demon.

Of course, whether or not it 'fully' erases Terminus' influence is debatable. It left two traps—the fake [Null] and [Finality]—and caused Aleph's thoughts to be limited. Only under his true form state could he completely shield its effects.

'I have to thank this Spirit World.' He shrugged. 'I finally dealt with that annoying rejection.'

His current state was different from before. After the creation of the Spirit World, he does not need to fight the world's rejection anymore. It was akin to a ticket in the eyes of the Tree. 

Once he was at the Spirit World, he could practically do anything to the physical universe. Manipulating time to the point he could meet Akivili was but one of the things he could freely do now.

"Then, Miss Galactice Baseballer. Can you recognize this?"

Aleph showed the Special Star Rail Pass on his left hand.

"Oh. Oh. OH..!"

With a look of realization, she replied, "That's the Pass I lost a long time ago!"

She began to narrate a short story. Apparently, Akivili had a fun thought. The basis of the Astral Express was an invitation from its current members. Akivili themselves selected the first generation of Trailblazers. From that point, their numbers would increase.

At some point, she threw away a single [Star Rail Pass] to the cosmos. She wanted to see where it would land. That time was also a tumultuous one as the Astral Express hadn't explored many worlds yet.

It would be a fun story to rediscover it later.

Hearing her somewhat unserious answer, Aleph did not judge her much. That was something he would do as well. The thing outside his expectations, however, was the fact that the Special Pass in his hands wasn't randomly created by the Achievement Hunter.

'Does it know something..?'

Aleph realized he hadn't dug deeper into his supposed cheat.

He pushed it at the back of his mind for later.

"Can I take a look at it?"

"Sure."

He handed over the golden pass to her. The latter stared at it absentmindedly, as if seeing the journey it went through before it reached Aleph's hands.

"I did not think… The star of that day. It was you."

"Hm..?"

She became sentimental when she recalled those memories.

"You are not from this world."

"Yes."

"You made a big fuss when you entered ours."

Aleph raised an eyebrow. It was one of the few blind spots in his knowledge. He is currently trapped inside a "Lostbelt" of sorts, a parallel universe designed to show the world without him.

Even his past influences were erased when he tried to look at them. 

'No.'

Rather than erased, it was as if someone cut out that portion of the past. How could he see through a disguise when the person themselves weren't there?

It was fortunate that his existence on Earth was retained.

"That's right. Can you still see other branches of the Imaginary Tree?"

"That's how it has been."

"I should have fished for Erudition again…"

Despite not understanding his words, Akivili felt it was related to troublemaking.

"It's unavailable now."

"..."

"I forgot to tell this part."

Akivili placed both her hands on her waist with an apologetic look. Aleph was speechless at them… no, her.

'The Aeon closest to humans… It's surprising she remained a human despite all that.'

Now, he could feel what Herta felt when they met for the first time. The novelty of seeing normalcy amidst incomprehensible existences is unmatched.

"My memory isn't so bad as to forget what I have seen thousands of trailblazing years ago."

"...I was about to ask that question."

She nodded to acknowledge these words.

"I think… you can negate Terminus' influence. It's hard to explain. Your presence appeared everywhere at first. No matter the time, the place… Termy acted after that. They compressed your presence to a singular point in time. That was three thousand trailblazing years ago..?"

Aleph nodded at her words before giving her a flat look. She had just stated she won't forget things easily. Yet, the doubt on her final words became questionable.

"Hey… You can't blame me. I am under Termy's test. That's how I…"

"..."

The truth came to light. Aleph remained silent.

'Akivili was also tested by Terminus… What's their purpose..?'

Just then, he caught a word.

"You are still under it..?"

"Damn. You are smart!"

Akivili confirmed it with a thumbs up directed at him.

"Termy is a little weird. Death does not spell the end for them. They can bring someone back to life… even my fellow Aeons. Subsequently…"

"They can put them to death…"

"Um. But it's different with Termy's test. It's like a… that's right. Spawn point."

It was Aleph's first time hearing a lot of information about Terminus. It was a precious resource to other Aeons, but to Akivili, it was just her usual Tuesday.

"Can I know your test?"

"Hum? It's fine. It's not that complex." She replied. "I need to shine the light of Trailblazing beyond this world. Termy required me to find a way to leave this world. My test will be over by then."

"..."

"Shocking, right? That's why I was shocked when I saw you that day. It's like a foreign spaceship in Penacony's movies!"

Aleph's silence became longer this time.

'What are they cooking?' He thought. 'My test is to leave this parallel universe. Akivili's was to leave this world.'

World.

This word flashed in his mind at least thousands of times by now.

''If Terminus is at the level of carrying a world, they should be looking forward to the next stage. My test's contents weren't that harsh, but if I made a single wrong step…'

Aleph would have ended up like Akivili.

She wasn't technically dead. Her words and her state that he personally saw suggested she was locked in a 'Gulag'. Time has to pass for a while before she is able to re-enter the physical universe; therefore the real world.

She also bore the corresponding consequences of her failure. Every single Trailblazer she recruited died. When this restriction was over, she was able to recruit new Trailblazers, such as Himeko, Welt, Dan Heng, and March 7th.

Once he went further this line of thought…

'The price for failure.''

…he discovered that his failure would cost everyone connected to him.

*****

A/N: Everything in this chapter is non-canon. There are still many things surrounding the Express' previous fall. I could only use my prior knowledge to cover the gaps and create a reasonable plot line.