She was now already a Lawbearer, walking a path completely different from the Divine Collective. It was not as complicated as the Divine Collective—so long as a philosophical idea belonged under her principle of law, it naturally belonged to her faction.
One must know that she had always wanted powerful subordinates. Although at present her Traveler Pantheon could already be considered a large pantheon, following the elite route of few in number but strong in ability, the strongest among them—Alice, who was both a senior member of the Witches' Council and a Primordial God—was still only at that level. The rest were merely Supreme Gods.
Though their growth speed was extremely fast—within a mere one or two thousand years they would surely reach the cosmic level—it still could not keep up with her own pace. By the time they each forged their own unique Path, who knew how long it would take.
"My name is Himeko, Lord God." Himeko spoke politely. As a Nameless, she could communicate with anyone with ease, even with beings far stronger than herself.
Moreover, during this time, she had led the Astral Express in pioneering many worlds, though most of them had been barren ones.
On the journey, she had more or less inquired about the powers and allegiances of the worlds she passed, thus gathering fragments of information regarding the Divine Collective and the various gods.
This included her own superior god, the bearer of the Principle of Trailblaze.
That deity was a superexistence linking endless universes and worlds—ranking among the top even within all of Teyvat.
The Astral Express she led as an Aeon of Trailblaze merely linked galaxies within the universe, while the Lord of Trailblaze above her linked across countless universes.
Of course, she too could lay down Star Rails between universes, but those were not permanent and would eventually be eroded by the Dimensional Gap.
"Hehe, very good, very good. This lady thinks quite highly of you~ Once this meeting ends, let us have a proper chat."
Lumine had wanted to pat Himeko on the shoulder, but quickly realized that her height only reached Himeko's chest. Feeling embarrassed, she silently clasped her hands behind her back.
Himeko only smiled, without pointing it out.
From what she understood, this deity's personality was free and unrestrained, somewhat like Stelle, only even more fond of showing off.
Just as the gods thought everyone had arrived and were preparing to step into the Hall of Gods, a clear yet comical laugh echoed out.
"Ah-hahaha~"
The gods all looked over at once, only to see a clown mask flying through the air, a loud voice ringing from within it.
It was Sparkle, who had already become the Aeon of Elation for quite some time and whose mass had reached 1.8 universes—second only to the Aeon of Nihility. She giggled as she spoke.
"My, my~ this clear, shrill, yet foolish-sounding voice… Isn't that the former Aeon of Elation, Lord Aha?"
The other Aeons, as well as the gods who knew of Aha, were all shocked.
The original Seven Archons had once participated in the battle against Aha. That battle had ended with Aha being defeated without even the chance to resist.
"Eh? That guy? He wasn't completely erased?"
"Looks like Lord Heavenly Principle didn't bother to erase him after all."
"That clown doesn't seem to be the sort that absolutely must be destroyed."
"Lord Heavenly Principle isn't that petty. How could He not even tolerate an existence no greater than an ant?"
"Besides, if he were truly an evil god, he could never still exist."
"Indeed, the former Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, was erased."
"Eh? But if Miss Sparkle has inherited the Path of Elation, then why is Aha still alive?" Lan looked at the current Aeon of Elation with puzzlement.
Sparkle placed her hands behind her back, twisting her legs slightly as the bells at her ankles chimed crisply.
Before she could answer, the clown mask had already floated before the gathered gods. It transformed into a figure wearing a tuxedo, a clown mask upon his face, and a tall magician's hat upon his head.
A ridiculous, theatrical clown voice followed.
"Aha~ Why of course! It was I, Aha, who willingly abdicated, gifting the precious Path of Elation to Lady Sparkle."
At these words, the gods widened their eyes in disbelief.
Even Zhongli and Venti could not remain unmoved in this regard.
Venti's eyes widened. "Gifting?"
This was a Path, not a head of cabbage.
Any Path was a philosophical power that stood above ordinary Almighty Gods, and at minimum could reach the ultimate strength of a hundredfold single-universe mass. With effort, reaching a thousandfold single-universe and grazing the heels of a Principle was not impossible...
If it were him, he would never give one away.
While the gods wore expressions of disbelief, Aha suddenly went berserk, rushing right up to Sparkle. The comical clown mask faced the assembled gods.
A very provoking voice came from behind the mask.
"Hahaha… I just wanted to see your faces like this."
"Those expressions of disbelief that shatter recognition~"
"Wonderful~"
"I'm satisfied now~"
The gods' impressions of Aha plummeted instantaneously to freezing point. Athena even looked at him with half-dead fish eyes, expressionless.
Even Zhongli's mouth twitched slightly.
Of course, the gods did not say they wanted to beat him up—after all, Aha was shameless, but they still maintained some dignity.
However, some gods didn't care about dignity at all.
"Aha~"
"Ouch!"
All the gods saw the Traveler Lumine leap up and kick Aha's mask so hard it shattered. Aha rolled down the stairs like a round ball.
"Watch my kick!"
Tet appeared behind Aha and, with a powerful kicking shot, sent Aha rolling back to land at Lumine feet. Lumine stomped down hard.
Tet followed in quick succession.
The two feet kept stomping Aha like a whack-a-mole machine, over and over.
Aha howled miserably.
"Just a clown! What are you putting on airs for!"
"You can pretend all you want, but not in front of your auntie!"
"I stomp, stomp, stomp—"
"Exactly, what are you showing off for!"
"Even I, the future God of Games, the future bearer of the Game Principle, the Chief Arbiter of the Cosmic Nexus, never pretended!"
"I'll show you the pattern on Lord Tet's shoe sole, okay?!"
"I stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp—"
"Ouch! It hurts, it hurts! I'm sorry, Aha, I'm sorry! Aha won't pretend anymore!"
"Stop hitting me, if you keep hitting me I'll die!"
"Hehehehe~ As expected of Lord Aha~ I, Sparkle, can still learn so, so much from you~"
Sparkle burst into laughter as she watched Aha being ganged up on.
Yet inwardly she was secretly shocked.
Aha was no longer an Aeon, but his aura was even deeper than when he had still been one.
She herself now possessed the mass of 1.8 universes, with fewer than ten present beings stronger than her.
This meant that Aha, who had stepped down from the Path, was now stronger than she was.
As expected of the former Aeon of Elation. The Path was like a shackle—without it, he was instead even more powerful.
From Aha she sensed countless strands of philosophical auras, though they had not sublimated into a Path.
Directly wielding the power of philosophy was already an instinct for an Aeon.
But to have so many gathered together—it truly stunned her.
"I'm dying… I'm dying…"
Lumine and Tet stopped their beating of Aha, clapping their hands in satisfaction as if a pair of delinquents had just robbed a studious boy of a fortune.
At this moment, Aha's tuxedo was in tatters, his appearance utterly wretched. The clown mask on his face had transformed into a pitiful crying expression, his groans of pain weak and feeble.
"Ahh~ using fists to beat someone really feels good~"
"Yes, yes~ that feeling of every punch landing is just too satisfying."
"I'm dying~"
"Enough. Auntie here didn't even use real strength. With your double single-universe strength, how could you possibly die from a simple beating?"
"Exactly. Keep pretending and Lumine won't mind leaving you half-dead for real."
"Eh, why me?"
"Hehe, I'm only standard single-universe. I couldn't possibly beat him, right?"
Suddenly, Aha leapt up from the ground. His tattered tuxedo instantly returned to normal, his magician's hat back in place, the clown mask reverting to its comical expression.
"Oh my, my~ How miserable, Aha is truly tragic. No sooner did I arrive than I was beaten half to death. Boo-hoo-hoo~"
Venti, watching his antics, couldn't help but complain: "So shameless… makes even me want to give him a thrashing."
Sparkle appeared at Venti's side, whispering encouragement: "Lord Venti, what are you waiting for? Lord Aha is so infuriating. Beating him up would be the only way to vent your anger~"
"Don't worry, Lord Venti, Lord Aha definitely won't fight back. He's terribly cowardly."
"So cowardly, in fact, that back then when someone barely threatened him, he shrank back and willingly gave up his seat~"
Venti's face grew serious: "Hmm, well said. My fists are already itching."
"Go for it, Lord Venti, I'll be cheering you on!" Sparkle said, producing a small flag with three bold characters written on it: Hit him!
Venti immediately bristled. "What the hell! Who would fall for such an obvious trick!"
"Ahh~ such a pity~" Sparkle said regretfully as she put the flag away.
The gods all sweated inwardly. This Aeon of Elation seemed like another troublesome figure—perhaps even more troublesome than Tet, that problem child.
Raiden Makoto smiled. "It seems Teyvat will only become more and more entertaining."
Zhongli cleared his throat softly. "Ahem."
"Everyone should already be present. If we keep fooling around, those lords may grow impatient."
The moment he mentioned those lords, silence immediately fell.
Even at their level—beings who in the superdimensions were absolute powers, Almighty Gods who could destroy or create universes with their bare hands—they did not dare be even slightly unruly in front of those lords who stood above even the Almighty, suppressing even the endless universes themselves.
Even Lumine, lawless and shameless as she was, dared not provoke them.
...
The Hall of Gods appeared unchanged from before.
Only, the aura of cosmic rules had completely vanished.
What remained was only Principles and Truths.
Only gods of cosmic level or higher could set foot on those steps.
Those below cosmic level could not even touch the place where the Hall of Gods resided.
The previous Divine Assembly had been the largest gathering of gods in Teyvat's history.
For more than ninety percent of the gods, that might very well have been their last.
As soon as the gods stepped through the doors of the Hall of Gods, what greeted them above was not a ceiling, but scenes of countless civilizations woven together by the power of Pan-Human History.
Beyond that, the long river of time flowed across the firmament of the Hall.
Following the river of time toward its origin and its end—
At the point where origin and end connected, there stood a silver-white tribunal, surrounded by the halo of the Principle of Time.
This was the Court of Time, the tribunal guarded and inhabited by the bearer of the Principle of Time.
The Court of Time governed all time within the multiverse.
There were four such tribunals.
Yet at this moment, only two could be seen from within the Hall of Gods.
The other was located at the beginning and end of the river of life.
The river of life had once been the Primordial Sea. Now its countless tributaries flowed like blood vessels through all worlds.
Every world was like a single cell.
The central area of the Hall of Gods itself was not particularly large—indeed, it was rather ordinary.
Aside from the supreme and sacred aura surrounding it, it was not much different from a mortal nation's parliamentary chamber.
Every being who had reached the cosmic level had a seat here.
The stronger the power, the greater the achievements, the more exalted the status—the closer the seat was to the front.
All seats faced the eleven Eternal Thrones at the highest point.
Hm?
Eleven?
Those who had attended past assemblies, such as Zhongli, felt their expressions shift, their eyes widening slightly.
Venti drew in a sharp breath. "Hiss… Am I seeing things? One, two, three… eleven… It really is eleven seats."
Excluding Lord Heavenly Principle's central seat, there were five seats on each side.
Excluding the four incarnations of Truth and the five Sustainers of Heavenly Principle…
Then where did this extra throne belong? Was it another Truth? Or another Sustainer?
The backs of the thrones bore the symbols unique to their masters. Phanes' was a sacred human figure, Ophis' was the serpent swallowing its tail, Asmoday's was a golden cube representing the essence of space.
The additional throne stood on the side of the Truths. Its symbol was an open book, within which was inscribed the pattern of a tree.
Zhongli seemed to realize something, hastily glancing behind him.
"Wait! Greater Lord Rukkhadevata of Sumeru hasn't arrived. Could it be—!"
At that thought, his golden eyes widened in shock.
—
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