As the surroundings shifted to normal, Aleph saw a conspicuous achievement in his sight.
[Achievement Obtained: Negotiations Successful]
[Achievement Obtained: Winning Without a Bloodshed]
'Oh. Was this considered my first fight that succeeded negotiations? Come to think of it…'
Throughout his career, Aleph did not choose the negotiation option much. Be they the corrupt councilors or the stubborn Herrscher Personas not giving up their control, he finished them using fists.
[Reward: Throne of Magical Arcana]
[Reward: Avalon]
The two rewards interested Aleph, to say the least.
[Throne of Magical Arcana: The power system belonging to another world. It has not been fully explored as of yet.]
[Avalon: The sheath that held the Sword of Victory, Excalibur.]
One of them was of knowledge-type. The last time he got something like this was the [Database: Circle of Inevitability]. It told him about a "God" with similar authorities as his. The framework of putting the six authorities underneath [Infinity] came from it.
The other reward was a material one.
'You gave me the sheathe, but not the sword itself. It's not like I am planning to summon a Servant…'
Aleph's thoughts went to a grinding halt.
'...it's possible.'
While he was thinking, a huge hat blocked his sight. He looked down and saw Herta looking up at him. Her eyes contained a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Well, why haven't you slept yet?" He asked.
"..."
Resisting the urge to swing her staff on that annoying face, Herta maintained the basic respect towards Aeons.
"You won't have to face her in the future." Aleph stated as he yawned. "She will withhold from killing other geniuses for the time being."
"Oh."
She did not feel much surprise. It takes a trillionth fraction of her intellect to know that Aleph cast a huge bait for Polka Kakamond to come. What they could not do, Aeons could.
That was the common consensus throughout the entire universe.
"I took out your chance to play around."
She was surprised to hear him concede.
"So, this is a gift."
He threw out an extremely thick hardcover book. The thick stack of pages was taller than her face.
"You want to know about divinity, right? You can go and find its meaning yourself."
Herta took a look at the first page. The dried up ink suggested it was written less than a week ago.
"That book includes some interesting summoning spells. By then, it won't be a dream to become an Emanator of Destruction."
"I would rather prefer Idrilla's gaze than that mindless god's."
The look of confidence she held was so natural Aleph felt he still underestimated this girl's ego.
"Alright, alright. I guess Nous did save everyone from an Emanator of Beauty like you. It's a great contribution to the universe."
He did not give her a chance to respond. After a wave of his hand, he disappeared out of plain sight.
At that time, the lights went up again. Exactly fifteen minutes had passed since the blackout.
"Hm. A system belonging to another world…"
Unknowingly, Herta was absorbed into studying the power system given to her.
*****
Earth.
Two and a half days had passed since Hua's disappearance. Had it not been for the broken messages sent by Aleph himself, everyone would have thought it to be the Cocoon's doing.
"The world outside Earth…"
This has been sitting on Mei's mind the moment she received it. The current predicament on Earth was lifted. Things turned out extremely well after Aleph's fight with the Cocoon.
Now, her major concern was Aleph himself.
"I might run the risk of losing myself. You can always think of me to prevent it."
These were the words he told her two days ago.
"He's loosened up."
Mei knew about Aleph's mischievous side. His competitiveness over small things—teasing and likes—could be seen everywhere. Even when it came to flirting, he always liked to "trade blows".
"It is logical but… how unfair."
It was supposed to be Mei's turn next. Aleph's vacation coincided with hers. If it weren't for the Cocoon's attack…
"The entire solar system is covered in an imaginary barrier. The stars you see aren't necessarily the places he had been."
A voice came up from behind. The scornful tone could not be hidden easily.
"The Project Heimdall detected new findings. It's about the parallel world where Aleph was in."
Mei disclosed the recent important updates to Mobius. The only reason for the latter appearing through virtual projections was this.
"It's a dimension whose door moves continuously. Even if we can open it, we would only be transported to the parallel Earth. The dilemma of imaginary barrier still exists."
"Oh, come on. We both know it will only take years to solve them all."
"...Don't cross the line you have set."
"I won't."
With that reply, Mobius' projection disappeared.
"She's becoming more concerning…"
Mei thought back to recent events. For once, Mobius applied to open up applications for live experimentation. It was an extension of Project Soldier, but this time, it involves 'complex information life'.
Mobius wants to create a way for humans to become similar to the Cocoon of Finality—to Aleph himself.
The answer she ended up seeing was Divinity.
Mei rejected her proposal for now.
"He must have foreseen this… It must be why he took the two instead…"
For now, she has to focus on controlling the overall situation.
*****
Aleph's brief messages on Earth were not the end. The messages had to pass by one place before being transferred to the real Earth—namely, the parallel world Earth.
Naturally, a trace of his complex information was left.
Unfortunately…
"I should have expected this."
Aleph deadpanned at his current situation.
After Finality threw him out to the parallel universe, he discovered that his ELF was somewhat affected by it. However, it did not follow Aleph to the parallel universe, but to parallel Earth instead.
Through the gap he created after being an official Aeon, he managed to wake it up.
The only problem now?
"I'm done after I take action once…"
The power imbued to it by Aleph could only sustain a full-powered attack from a pre-Aeon Aleph. That much power was lost between transmission.
With this in mind, ELF Aleph had to prepare for this side in case Aleph gets a chance to descend into this parallel Earth.
"Where should I go first…"