Chapter 293: Equation's Answers

Aleph had been facing Terminus since he arrived into this world. The not-so-subtle manipulations they did, such as the entire debacle with the sixth Herrscher and this Lostbelt-like parallel universe, made him aware of their strength. 

He was confident in facing most Aeons. Even if five, no, ten of them gathered together, he was confident to survive. That was how absurd his Infinity was. 

Back then, he could fight Voracity on equal footing. That was due to Infinity enhancing Error's effects.

It was just that…

No matter how absurd Infinity was, Terminus always finds a way to circumvent it. They are the only ones who could treat Aleph like this.

Knowing their goals made him feel somewhat relieved.

'I'm not working mindlessly anymore.' He thought. 'Terminus wants to do something with my and Akivili's concept.'

For a while, Aleph fell silent. Countless thoughts appeared on his mind, so much so that if a fraction of it was peaked by a mortal, they would get wiped out. It was a kind of processing speed that lasted for thousands of years in a span of a glance; an exaggerated version of perception differences of Jujutsu, to compare.

That was the reason why Aleph gradually distanced himself with the concept of time. He currently experienced hundreds of millions of years in the span of his year and a half of stay in this Lostbelt.

Only when he returns to Hua and Senti would he feel 'normal' again.

In this place where space and time is messed up, Akivili took the initiative to speak.

"You can wait for me. I can reappear thirty something years later. It's not that long. Maybe we can complete Termy's test by then…"

"...No. It won't work." Aleph then explained, "They want me to finish it soon. I have a hunch they will do something bad to force me out regardless."

Aleph already saw the emerging chaos when Equilibrium's existence was confirmed to be missing by him. They, HooH, have a far-reaching effect on the Aeons. They are responsible for checking everything out.

If there was an all-knowing machine (Nous), they would make up unpredictability (Mythus).

If there was harmony (Xipe), there would be destruction (Nanook). If destruction is not enough, then chaos (Aha).

Voracity? There is Qlipoth (Preservation).

Even Terminus has their supposed balance in the name of Remembrance (Fuli). The latter is responsible for keeping memories beyond the universe's end. 

However, Terminus' ability to go beyond HooH's expectations and cause them to go missing was through the roof.

In short, HooH is the phenomenon responsible for creating balance throughout the universe. Without their presence, there would be great upheaval as most Aeons would be free to do whatever they wanted, all according to their concepts (i.e., way of life).

That was the kind of chaos Aleph foresaw.

"Then, nothing would work. Hm…"

Perhaps it was her long absence, Akivili took Aleph's matter a bit too seriously.

"Thank you."

"Hm..?"

She was caught off guard by his word of gratitude.

"I can do it. Not just to pass their test, I will break it."

"Hm, I see, I see. You really are motivated!"

A somewhat helpless smile appeared on her face. She felt Aleph's departure quickly.

"By the time you can re-enter the world, I will give you a surprise."

"You said it."

"Yeah."

Thus, the meeting across space and time ended.

*****

[Achievement Obtained: Praise of High Morals]

[Achievement Obtained: Ruler of the Spirit World…]

[Achievement Obtained: Breakpoint]

Three achievements greeted Aleph's eyes. He laid his back on the courtyard's wooden chair. He used his right feet to push two of the chair's legs upward. With his height, balancing the chair was easy.

Aleph made an impromptu rocking chair with it.

His eyes blankly stared at Xianzhou's blue sky as he reviewed the rewards.

[Praise of High Morals: Do a good deed for the universe.]

[Ruler of the Spirit World: Use the Spirit World to do something huge.]

[Breakpoint: Accomplish something that could destroy Finality's status quo.]

'Praise of High Morals… I am pretty sure it is related to Akivili. The other two are self-explanatory.'

The three rewards he got from it were shocking enough, to say the least.

[Void Renormalization (Global Range, One-time Use)]

[Great Dao Fragment]

[Third True Magic — Heaven's Feel]

'Never thought I'd see this again.'

Aleph thought as he skimmed the [Void Renormalization]'s effects. It was one of the technological jargons introduced in Honkai Impact 3rd's 'Thus Spoke Apocalypse'. It was also the start of all the terms related to quantum.

It was for a fact that half of the playerbase did not understand much of it. Thus, it truly spoke for the apocalyptic mess in his previous life.

'Switching infinite with finite… How am I getting these one-time use rewards…'

He thought of the [FATE System] that was collecting dust on the Spirit World. Aleph designated it as the place to keep his 'endless' wealth.

'I'll have to put my plan ahead. To replicate their power and break the limits of a single-use item…'

Next was the [Great Dao Fragment]. He was more than familiar with it.

'Wasn't it said they need it to become an Immortal?'

Aleph's eyes became slightly hot at the thought of it. This was the first time he received a reward like this.

Being a Great Old One is no longer enough; he wants to become as strong as the Original Creator or Terminus.

The Immortal of the Great Dao system gave him that opportunity.

His eyes finally moved at the final reward.

'This will break some balances… yeah.' He thought. 'I can't use this yet. I must tweak it later. Materializing a soul is a dead end.'

The third true magic's ability was to interact with 'souls'. It could materialize them, making it so that a person is effectively an 'immortal'. The only issue with it was their lack of power, concept, and the likes. All they would get is the 'immortal' trait—that, and not needing to procreate, eat, sleep, etc.

If it was modified to send people up to Su's level (i.e., soul's higher-dimensional trait), that would be the best.

Just as he was deep in thought, he sensed something happening on the parallel Earth side.