The domain of Nihility.
This place was even emptier than the timeline of Finality.
There was nothing here. Even the very fact that "there was nothing" was close to becoming impossible to maintain.
IX lay here.
One large eye and one small eye remained open, staring blankly.
They had been lying there like this for who knew how many Amber Eras.
The life and death of all beings, the rise and fall of Aeons, the prosperity and destruction of civilizations—in Their eyes, all of it was little different from drifting dust. If it floated past, then it floated past. They could not even be bothered to lift an eyelid.
After all, everything ultimately became nothing. The result was always the same.
And so They simply lay there, watching the universe inch closer and closer to Nihility.
Yet today, Their eyes widened. Both the large eye and the small eye opened wide at the same time.
The universe that had been continuously falling toward Nihility suddenly stopped descending. It was as though someone had placed something beneath it. Its fall slowed and became far more difficult.
IX's gaze followed the chain of causality upward.
It crossed the boundary of Nihility, entered the true timeline, and finally stopped in The Blue system, settling upon a girl wearing a pointed hat.
And thus, IX of Nihility saw Herta scatter portions of that transparent energy. Each time she scattered one portion, the universe's weight of existence increased by one portion.
The Power of Existence.
IX recognized this thing.
Or rather, IX understood at a glance exactly what relationship this thing had with Them:
Its opposite.
They reduced all things to nothing, while she truly created existence from nothing. Although it could not end Nihility, it undeniably slowed the arrival of the Nihility apocalypse by a tremendous amount.
By all logic, upon encountering Their opposite, this Aeon should have taken action.
IX did not.
They remained where They were, staring with those mismatched eyes for a very, very long time.
They watched that sharp-hatted girl scatter wisp after wisp of the Power of Existence into the universe.
They watched the universe's descent toward Nihility slow once, then slow again.
Then, the Aeon of Nihility performed an action They had not made throughout countless Amber Eras since Their birth.
Their true body rolled over. More precisely, They sat up. The embodiment of Nihility, which had lain there for who knew how many tens of thousands of years, slowly straightened.
This was IX's second movement.
The first time had been when Soul Society was born. They had lifted an eyelid and stirred Their true body.
This time, They actually sat up.
Of course, They did not take action, nor did They send even the slightest tide of the Path of Nihility in any direction.
They simply sat there and watched Herta in the Warp of The Blue system, the girl with the pointed hat.
The reason They did this was enough to leave every Aeon in the universe stunned:
IX, the Aeon of Nihility, was looking forward to something.
They hoped Herta would truly bring an end to one of the Four Apocalypses—the Nihility apocalypse.
That's right. The Aeon of Nihility hoped for Their own end.
IX understood the reason better than anyone.
They were Nihility, but from beginning to end, They had never wanted to see this universe die completely.
All living beings believed that the Aeon of Nihility had created Nihility and was the culprit responsible for the universe's descent into nothingness.
But only IX knew that They had merely seen clearly the truth that the universe was destined to fall.
And now a turning point had arrived. The Herta herself was that turning point.
So They sat up to watch.
To see whether this sharp-hatted Herta could truly drag the universe back from the edge of Nihility.
...
At the apex of the Path of Destruction.
Nanook was watching as well.
Their golden eyes reflected the direction of The Blue system.
Today, They saw something new.
A form of Power of Existence researched by Herta, capable of increasing the universe's weight of existence and delaying the arrival of the Nihility apocalypse.
This was a good thing.
That's right. They disliked Nihility as well.
No one would probably believe it if told aloud. The Aeon of Destruction actually disliked the Nihility where all things became nothing?
Yet that was the truth.
In Nanook's eyes, Nihility was the most boring ending possible.
If the universe fell into Nihility, leaving nothing behind, not even ashes, how could that be called a true ending among the Four Apocalypses?
A true ending had to be Destruction.
Everything rotten, festering, and deserving of death had to burn in a magnificent blaze, burning through it all until only then could something new emerge.
Destruction was not the end.
Destruction was another form of rebirth.
Only after destruction could all things welcome their most brilliant rebirth.
Therefore, the universe absolutely could not fall into Nihility. If it fell into Nihility, even rebirth would become impossible.
If everything had to end, then it should end under the Four-Apocalypse doctrine of Destruction led by Them, the Aeon of Destruction.
"Herta."
Nanook stared at the figure inside the Warp and slowly said:
"You've done well."
At the same time Their words fell, a thought also arose uncontrollably in Nanook's heart:
That woman truly does possess the possibility of resolving all Four Apocalypses.
If that day really arrives, a universe with not a single remaining possibility of apocalypse... that would be a perfect future!
However, Herta was still far from accomplishing that.
Compared to completely ending the Four Apocalypses, Nanook was more inclined to have Destruction end everything, allowing Destruction to guide...
Somewhere in the universe, inside an art studio.
A canvas stood in the room, with a person standing before it.
She had white hair, a hat on her head, glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, black stockings covering her lower body, and mid-calf boots. She radiated the mature allure of an older woman.
She held a paintbrush in one hand, its tip dipped in paint, and was applying color to the canvas.
What was painted on the canvas was strange. It depicted a little bird in a pointed hat flapping its wings, carrying stones in its beak and dropping them into a bottomless sea.
She was Nihilux, an incarnation of the Aeon of Elation, perhaps even Their representative? She painted as she spoke, laughter in her voice.
"I use laughter to tell the meaning of the universe, not cold Nihility."
She said this quite solemnly.
Then she herself was the first to laugh, twirling the brush between her fingers.
"I've been saying that for who knows how many years. My lips are practically worn raw from repeating it, yet barely any of those fools ever truly understood."
"One after another, they're either busy calculating truth, busy destroying things, or just lying around staring blankly."
She switched brushes, dipped it into another color, and added a stroke of vivid purple-black to the little bird wearing the pointed hat.
"And yet now, someone has appeared who wants to turn the tide by herself, prop up a collapsing sky, and save the entire cosmos."
"The anchor of Spirituality, Herta."
"The Power of Existence can delay the arrival of the Nihility apocalypse. What an extraordinary method!"
"Far better than my Elation after it lost its original flavor!"
She took half a step back and examined her painting.
In the painting, the little bird dropped stones into the sea one by one, raising the waterline and waves ever so slightly.
"Perhaps one day, she really will be able to postpone the Four Apocalypses apocalypse indefinitely."
"Now that would be interesting."
Nihilux put down her brush and raised her head with a smile toward the Warp. She decided to make Herta the protagonist of her artwork. She believed that turning the research adventures of Herta Bird into a manga and publishing it throughout the cosmos would undoubtedly become a huge hit.
...
Meanwhile, HooH, the Aeon of Equilibrium who had merged with the universe itself, also witnessed Herta's actions.
In fact, the instant the Power of Existence merged with the universe, They immediately sensed that the universe's descent toward Nihility had slowed.
It even allowed HooH to glimpse the possibility that, if the universe obtained even more Power of Existence, it could completely distance itself from the Nihility apocalypse of the Four Apocalypses.
For how many tens of thousands of years had the scales of the universe tilted in only one direction, continuously sinking toward Nihility?
And now, the scales of the universe had finally begun tilting toward existence!
Herta, you did well!
HooH's heart was filled with praise, and that praise transformed into a blessing of fortune, good luck, and providence... ensuring that Herta's days ahead would be even more fortunate.
Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, was also paying attention to Herta. For Qlipoth of Preservation, the universe moving farther away from the Four Apocalypses was a good thing.
It meant They would have more time to deal with the calamities of the future.
Herta was unquestionably a genius who stood on the side of Preservation and Order!
Of course, Qlipoth did not voice Their thoughts. They simply continued swinging Their enormous hammer, constructing new walls.
They understood that as time passed, future crises would draw ever closer. They had to make good use of the time that remained.
And then there was Nous. Their gaze was also fixed upon Herta as They calculated furiously.
They could calculate that the threads of fate within the universe had changed. For example, the delay of the Nihility apocalypse meant that after Stelle boarded the train in the future, They would no longer have any possibility of becoming tainted by Nihility.
Beyond that, Nous also calculated that the Self-Annihilators who had originally been certain to lose themselves while pursuing Nihility now possessed the possibility of preserving their identities because Herta had developed the Power of Existence.
For example, Acheron, who remained within The Blue system and had already traveled an extraordinarily great distance down the path of the Self-Annihilators...