The Herta continued using World-Shaking Wisdom, along with the research capability that Universal Genius had boosted to 1500, to push forward the study of the Magical Girl Transformation Device.
Meanwhile, Herman's consciousness returned to reality at that very moment. He immediately began writing at a furious pace, drafting the design blueprint for the Magical Girl—crossed out—Pathstrider Energy Amplifier Version 0.1 · Soul Gem.
The contents of the blueprint were extremely complex. Fortunately, this body belonged to The Herta. Writing such material was effortless for her—effortless!
In less than half a day, the semi-finished product researched by The Herta through World-Shaking Wisdom—the Soul Gem design blueprint—was formally completed.
And all of this was naturally observed by Nous... After all, the current Herta was already a member of the Genius Society. To a certain extent, she had become one of Nous' neuronal nodes within the real universe.
—A node that represented curiosity!
Nous was surprised.
Because within Their calculations, something similar to the Magical Girl Transformation Device would indeed be developed at some point in the future by The Herta—after she had sublimated into a dragon and become an Emanator of Erudition.
But absolutely not now!
The present The Herta had only just solved the Fourth Cosmic Conundrum, the Solitary Waves Theory. She should have already exhausted her mental strength, leaving no spare energy to research a Magical Girl Transformation Device.
She should have needed time to recover. So what exactly was happening now?
The Herta had advanced the development of the Magical Girl Transformation Device by such an enormous margin.
For the first time, Nous—who once believed They had calculated everything within this universe—felt that They had miscalculated.
More precisely, They had already sensed that something more enigmatic than the mysterious Mythus had occurred within The Herta... A change so strange that it had caused her fate to deviate from its original trajectory.
Nous fell silent and began calculating the future once more. What They derived, however, was an extraordinarily peculiar possible future.
In that future, countless Pathstriders across the universe all possessed Soul Gems. Every single one of them wore exceedingly ornate and delicate outfits.
More critically, it was not only female Pathstriders dressed in this manner—male Pathstriders were dressed the same way as well. The sight was utterly eye-searing.
Such a scene caused the red light flickering within Nous' true body to accelerate. They could not comprehend how the universe's future could transform into something like this.
In the end, They observed that the Soul Gems people carried could amplify the power of magical girls—and magical boys. Moreover, the more magnificent the attire worn, the stronger the amplification!
And most crucially, this amplification would not merely be ten percent or twenty percent in the future—but several times, even dozens of times greater!
If that were the case, Pathstriders equipped with Soul Gems would naturally be able to utterly crush those who were not...
Nous continued observing, gazing toward the end of this timeline. In the end, They discovered that The Herta's invention of the Magical Girl Transformation Device would ultimately be nothing more than a brief flash in the universe's history.
The future would still be the war of the Aeons. What awaited this universe would still be blood and fire—the Four Apocalypses.
Nous closed Their eyes and ceased calculating this timeline's possibility any further.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
A member of the Stellaron Hunters—Elio.
This black cat was also using its eyes to observe different possibilities. Thus, it too witnessed the scene of The Herta twisting the universe with her invention, forcing every Pathstrider into girl-like attire.
"The Herta does not merely possess the possibility of becoming the Third Emperor, the mastermind behind the scenes. She also has the potential to destroy—or rather, to unify—the universe's aesthetic standards... If that is the case, the Herta of this timeline will most likely step onto the Path of Beauty!"
"However, even such a Herta would still be unable to bring about a massive variable for the cosmos!"
"The only one capable of bringing a massive variable to the universe is a single person."
Thinking this, Elio turned toward Stelle, who had not yet lost her memory, had not yet been implanted with a Stellaron, and was currently training her body within the organization.
"Are you interested in becoming a magical girl?"
"That's something only children would be interested in." Stelle replied coolly while lifting dumbbells.
Elio rolled its feline eyes. "Then why do you enjoy playing with Firefly's Glamoth transformation device so much when she's lying in the medical pod?"
"That's different! I'm just interested in mecha transformations. Yes, that's right!!"
Stelle maintained her aloof expression.
Elio said, "What a pity. According to my observations, the newly appointed 83rd Seat of the Genius Society has not only solved the Solitary Waves Theory, but has also developed a Magical Girl Transformation Device!"
"More importantly, she is already preparing for commercialization. It may not be long before you can purchase a Magical Girl Transformation Device · Soul Gem through IPC channels!"
The moment Elio finished speaking, Stelle immediately threw away the barbell she had been using to train and lunged forward, scooping up the black cat Elio into her arms.
"Is that true?!"
"The transformation device has really been developed by The Herta?"
The corners of Elio's feline mouth twitched slightly. "What happened? Didn't you say you weren't interested? That you only cared about mecha transformations?"
"Being a Glamoth Iron Cavalry is certainly great, but that transformation device is for Firefly to use!" Stelle's eyes shone brightly. "So I think becoming a beautiful magical girl suits me better—punishing evil and eliminating wrongdoing!"
Elio could not help but retort, "You really know how to talk. Right now, you're a masked hunter of the Stellaron Hunters. The IPC has issued a bounty for you. The reward on your head is second only to Kafka's."
Stelle replied, "The IPC placing a bounty on me is the IPC's problem. Everything I do is justice. My heart is clear as a mirror. I invade planet after planet only for the Stellaron. I'm doing it to save those worlds."
"All right, all right. Put me down." Elio struggled slightly. "It may not be long before you can buy the Magical Girl Transformation Device. According to the future I've observed, The Herta will also install a cognitive interference function in a small portion of the devices!"
"Once the magical girl completes her transformation, her image in the eyes of others will undergo a drastic change."
"It truly suits you. After all, your identity does need to remain hidden."
"Yay!"
Stelle jumped happily. She felt that when the time came, she should buy several transformation devices—first one for Kafka, then one for Firefly, and one for Silver Wolf...
All the members of the Stellaron Hunters could transform! Transform into magical girls!!