"Oh! That tin can and stone face got absolutely demolished! Each of them had three Aeons ganging up on them, and even the surrounding battlefield was being suppressed by Nihility and Equilibrium!"
Aha shrank down to roughly human size and cheerfully approached Caelus with a microphone in hand.
"Mr. Caelus, Aha has a question! How exactly did you bring Aeons who had vanished or died back into the present?"
"The power of Finality."
"You mean you're the Aeon of Finality?"
"No."
"Oh my! Did you hear that, everyone watching?! Just moments ago, Mr. Caelus temporarily served as the representative of Nihility, then brought the Path of Creation into the universe, which practically makes him an Aeon of Creation too. And now he says he used the power of Finality to bring Aeons from the past into the present. That can only mean one thing. He must become the Aeon of Finality in the future!
"One person equal to three Aeons! This has to be a joke. It has to be a dream! Unfortunately, Aha has no choice but to tell you that this time, it really isn't a joke!
"Oh, Mr. Caelus, may I ask what sort of goals and dreams someone as powerful as you has? Aha also noticed that the lady beside you briefly became the Aeon of Remembrance just now. Could it be that... Fuli, that shameless voyeur, is actually a girl?"
Caelus stared at the mask wearing an expression of exaggerated curiosity.
There was no chance Aha did not know about the Flawless Mirror. The Aeon was obviously pretending not to know purely to bait him into saying it aloud.
"No comment."
"Oh, come on! Every intelligent life-form in the universe is curious! Don't ruin the mood. Please? Aha is begging you!"
"Onegai! Watashi!"
As expected of Aha, THEY immediately dropped to THEIR knees, wrapped both arms around Caelus's right leg, and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"Streamers live and die by engagement these days! This is the biggest trending event in the entire universe. If Aha fails to capitalize on this kind of traffic, Aha will be voluntarily laid off! Then Aha will have no choice but to wander the streets until someone recycles Aha as a discarded mecha!"
Caelus stared down at THEM expressionlessly. He tried shaking the nuisance off his leg.
It did not work.
"Ask."
Caelus understood that if he did not indulge Aha until THEY were satisfied, THEY would never stop.
Aha instantly sprang back to THEIR feet, behaving as though the embarrassing scene had never happened.
"Then regarding Aha's previous question, what does Mr. Caelus have to say?"
"I don't have any particular dream. I brought the Path of Creation into this universe for one simple reason. It would cause trouble for Destruction, so I did it."
"Oh? So you have a grudge against the Aeon of Destruction?"
"Originally, no. But Nanook tried to stop me from turning a planet and the lives inside a dataset into real existences. After that, we had a grudge."
"Oho~ That sounds like quite the story. There must be a lot behind it!"
"The story of Amphoreus. If anyone wants to know it, I'll ask the locals later. If they agree, I'll compile everything into an epic or a storybook and publish it throughout the universe."
"Hey! Aha hasn't even started running ads yet and you're already promoting your own book!"
"As for the woman beside me, she is my wife, my partner, and the person I love. Cyrene."
"Oh! Congratulations! If you ever hold a wedding, remember to send Aha an invitation. Aha will absolutely come freeload on the food and drinks. And make sure Aha gets a seat at the kids' table!"
Inside the Astral Express, Stelle slowly lowered her phone after watching Caelus reluctantly cooperate with the livestream. Then she rose to her feet with a solemn expression.
"From this day forward, I have the strongest connections in the entire galaxy. No one is allowed to raise their voice at me ever again."
"Hey, why do I feel like she's going to become even more unrestrained after this?"
March 7th narrowed her eyes at Stelle.
"But doesn't the way he brought Aeons from the past into the present feel kind of like the Trailblaze? He's already managed to become the equivalent of three different Aeons. At this point, becoming Akivili somehow doesn't sound completely impossible either."
"This galaxy really does make anything seem possible."
On the Xianzhou Luofu, Jing Yuan silently placed a chocolate stick between his lips before turning toward Fu Xuan.
"Master Diviner Fu, I think I'd like to retire."
"Sure. Go tell the Marshal."
Fu Xuan answered calmly, then looked back toward the young man on the screen. Whenever she remembered her previous interactions with him, she could not help feeling an inexplicable pressure.
Qingque, meanwhile, stood there with her mouth hanging open. Even the jade tile in her hand had fallen to the floor.
"I... I'm friends with an Aeon?!"
The Vidyadhara were in complete chaos.
Ever since Long appeared, their entire society had been thrown into an uproar. Some had already boarded long-distance vessels and were preparing to travel directly to Amphoreus on a pilgrimage.
Others were discussing how to persuade Caelus to help the Vidyadhara regain the ability to reproduce naturally.
What? You doubted he could do it?
Someone escort this intellectually challenged infiltrator out and let them try again in their next life.
Still others had already gone to Ao Xiaotian to receive copies of his sacred texts. They had begun studying them, worshipping alongside him, and even converting their faith.
There were even groups discussing whether they could somehow push Ao Xiaotian into the position of General of the Luofu. If that happened, surely the Vidyadhara of the Luofu would be closer to that divine existence than any other branch of their species.
After finally driving the troublemaker away, Caelus turned toward the Chrysos Heirs standing in the cosmos.
"Amphoreus has finally welcomed a true dawn."
He smiled.
"You've worked hard, Teacher."
Cerydra spoke first.
"Thank you for the story, Caelus."
Hysilens smiled, still holding the book in her hands. It seemed she genuinely liked it.
"Gray, thank you for everything you've done."
Hyacine spoke together with Little Ica.
"We really did meet again tomorrow."
Tribios smiled.
"Mr. Caelus, thank you for everything."
Castorice bowed slightly.
"Life has finally been given a new way forward. Everything has been granted a new beginning. I could not ask for a better ending."
The demigod of Earth, Alti, lowered his head to Caelus in gratitude.
"Thank you."
Anaxa raised his hands and began applauding.
That single gesture prompted everyone else to join in, smiling as they applauded together.
Even Phainon and Mydei, who had been attacking Nanook with near-madness only moments ago, were smiling now. They had already vented most of their anger, especially since Nanook had more or less been forced to stand there and let them hack away.
Everything had been given a new beginning.
Everything was over.
Cyrene looked at the people who would now be able to walk toward better futures, then at Amphoreus itself, finally granted a true beginning of its own. She quietly stepped beside Caelus and took his hand.
Then she kissed him.
The two shared a deep kiss.
And the troublemaker who had supposedly left long ago was still standing in the distance with a huge grin, recording every second of it.
Which meant every intelligent life-form in the universe was currently watching the two of them openly shower everyone with affection.
Then the livestream ended.
The uproar caused by that broadcast, however, was nowhere near finished.
The name Caelus once again shot to the top of headlines and trending searches across the universe. The excitement surrounding the Eternal Dreamscape had not even faded yet.
Amphoreus might have experienced an unimaginably long span of time, but the flow of time inside it had never matched the outside universe. Strictly speaking, only a month or two had passed since the creation of the Eternal Dreamscape.
"As expected, the script has been completely rewritten. Still, the next story can proceed according to the original plan.
"As for everything after that, it's difficult to say now. After all..."
The woman speaking set down her wineglass and looked out through the window at the stars.
"The future that was destined for destruction is no longer truly destined."
A future that had once stood at one hundred percent... had fallen to ninety-nine.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)