The final authority missing to complete the [Lord of the Mysteries] authority: [Fool].
'Is it telling me how dumb I was..?'
Aleph sighed as he claimed the reward.
'To think of [Infinity] as a separate thing…'
All this time, he was subconsciously separating himself from [Infinity]. Be it from the previous cases of other Aeons and the fact that he could properly exert his power, he did not think much of it.
Facing his failure to this parallel Earth, he realized how wrong he was.
It was understandable. He had been an Aeon for eleven years. That was in Earth years. More importantly, he slept during those ten years. His time with Hua and Senti, plus his time alone, amounted to a short year.
'It's my fear.'
Aleph admitted it.
He is afraid to change—to lose himself. From the moment he learned of Aeons' seemingly lack of empathy, he wondered if he would become the same.
Thus, it resulted in a subconscious rejection of his mind.
Aleph considered [Infinity] as a power. At best, an extension of his.
He is dead wrong.
Aleph is [Infinity]; [Infinity] is Aleph. It is wrong to separate the two of them. By doing so, he prevents himself from reaching his full capacity.
This time, he decided to face these fears head-on.
"Hm."
He looked around and saw nothing but the dotted distant stars. His true body is right outside the imaginary barrier—at the edge of the solar system.
Aleph came here once and managed to break open a small gap. Now he has returned…
"It's not as flawless as I thought."
{Reminder.}
{Reminder.}
{Reminder.}
{Complex information phenomena are being emitted by your presence. Small-scale space-quakes are happening within the entire physical universe.}
Metatron's reminder came as soon as the Tree's suppression came. It is actively forcing Aleph to step out of the material universe. The small bit of 'anchors' (i.e., Pathstriders) he gained during this year and a half had their connections become faint.
It was as if this world was rejecting everything related to Aleph—concepts included.
Compared to the suppression he felt at the beginning, it was a hundred times worse.
But…
"I can't leave."
Stepping back makes it more difficult for Aleph to return. The price he needs to pay is a thousand times worse than the first suppression he felt.
Zoom-!
Bam-!
Hum.
Slits of darkness began to appear around him. These slits contained nothing, save for the thin white lines similar to a web.
"Equilibrium."
The presence of the Aeon Aleph sought, Equilibrium, revealed themselves under plain sight.
"They still exist. It's strange they don't react to my presence. Then…" He muttered as a possibility arose in his mind. "...they are preoccupied."
As to who could confront Equilibrium and cause them to fall silent?
The answer is fairly obvious.
"It's useless to think of it now."
A gray crystal in the shape of a spherical orb emerged from Aleph's palm. The gray fog disrupted both space and time. Its sheer presence prevents other Aeons from spying onto it.
Buzz-!
A loud sound went past his 'ears'. A thought appeared in his mind.
'It becomes complete.'
Bam-!
Aleph smashed the orb into his chest.
Boom-!
A crisp sound emerged all over the place. A white cosmic cloud spilled from Aleph's back. It became larger, causing this phenomenon to be visible to even the most distant places.
From a glance, the cosmic cloud is dotted with stars. They shone in different colors of red, green, yellow, blue, orange, indigo, and violet.
Click-!
Further changes occurred. Metatron wasn't able to remain 'unscathed'.
{Error.}
{Error.}
{Seven thousand five hundred and eighty-one scans is now deemed erroneous. Intercep… Connecting with the source of information disruption…}
{Connection Established. Interpreting changes…}
{Interpretation complete.}
Aleph looked up before he opened the Achievement Hunter. Presented into the lines of prompt is an achievement he had never… correction.
It was something he had seen before.
[Reward: Ein Sof]
"Fu… Did it see everything?"
The complex information projected by the single sentence explained everything he needed to know.
This reward is essentially something he could not use until he reaches his full potential—the realization of Infinity. Fortunately, he could use it now.
"I will put this aside for now."
Looking around, Aleph saw nothing but the cosmic white cloud. Their expansion ensued. If left uncontrolled, they would undoubtedly expand throughout the entire universe itself.
"A Pillar…"
Metatron's response came after a time of silence.
{The Error, Door, and Fool authorities are currently merging. From the database gathered, they are to turn into the authority held by the universe's Pillar, Lord of the Mysteries.}
The title of Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth fell on his head.
*****
Aeons aren't the type to busy themselves with mortals. Their presence remains elusive, and so their direct influence.
Aha and Akivilli are the two eccentric Aeons who are the closest to humans. They did not mind the interactions with them as they heeded their purpose—to seek elation and trailblaze, respectively.
Now, the title of being the closest to humans fell atop Aleph's head.
"Divinity on Earth… It's a rare sight."
Herta stopped everything as she appeared at the Space Station's docking center. Painted in the huge canvas filled with darkness and stars is a portion of white cosmic clouds.
Just then, a mirror emerged directly onto her side.
["So this is…"]
"Go ahead and try to reflect Him. I won't be responsible for fixing you."
["O-ow!"]
The Fourth Mirror reacted too late and tried to "reflect" Him on its mirror. A noticeable crack was drawn in from top to bottom. The mirror instantly became dimmer.
["Oh no… The poor me… How can I reflect your beauty now…"]
A somewhat cowardly voice came from the mirror.
"Hm. A crack or two wouldn't change a thing."
["As expected of Madam Herta!"]
The mirror's sullen voice returned to its previous glazing form.
{"Oh..? You're not just a narcissist. You're a stalker too."}
Suddenly, a different voice came from the mirror. It was more than familiar to Herta's ears.
"Huh? Narcissist? You mean honest."
{"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, Miss Stalker. Do you want to ask something? I can serve as your magic mirror."}
*****
A/N: Welp. The academic year is over. I passed all of my subjects. Truly, a peak cinema. Anyways, I'll go try and compensate those four chapters I missed out from back then. I'll also try to extend this double chapters throughout an entire week. That will start on the next chapter. This entire Lostbelt arc should end in less than fifty or so chapters. Aleph only needs to go through some unfinished businesses, then we'll proceed with World Travel.
Happy reading~!