In an instant, boundless radiance erupted.
The gazes of Mobius and the other two tracked the fluctuations of the energy peak without blinking.
At that moment, immense energy waves emitted an unceasing hum.
The light grew ever more resplendent, illuminating the surroundings. With every passing moment, it climbed toward a brand new summit.
Faced with this situation, the three showed no change in expression, calm and unruffled.
As time passed, increasingly vast and eye-catching energy gathered at a terrifying speed, forming a massive energy depression in the blink of an eye.
The overpowering force of the Path caused space itself to collapse, creating gravity capable of tearing apart celestial bodies.
These minor issues had all been considered before the experiment began. With the current conditions alone, it was far from enough to break through the defensive measures the three had set up.
Suddenly, Ruan Mei lifted her gaze slightly, red lips parting as she spoke softly.
"The energy level is still rising." A constant increase was not a good thing.
It meant their penetrating power was still nowhere near the boundary this experiment sought to explore. They were still far from even touching the edge.
"The power gathered here can do far more than this."
Herta remained expressionless as she spoke.
The Aeon of the Hunt was widely known throughout the cosmos.
Though the number of times They appeared before the public was similarly pitifully few, compared to others who vanished without a trace or lay dormant in one place all day, They were already remarkably diligent.
Whenever the arrow of the Hunt appeared, it meant that yet another world was being destroyed.
Yet it was precisely because of this that the Aeon of the Hunt was witnessed and worshiped by the masses.
As an Aeon who bent the bow and loosed arrows of light that pierced through everything, the meaning contained within Their them far surpassed superficial imagery.
"Clang!"
The hum of metal rang out abruptly.
"Buzz…!"
Herta's eyes lit up.
"Found it!"
The moment her words fell, the light of Nihility flared.
The Nihility assimilates everything.
Before the Nihility, nothing holds meaning. Thus, walls and the like do not exist.
Visible to the naked eye, the oppressive force was advancing steadily. Though there was no concrete reference point to determine progress, they understood that this was the threshold they needed to cross.
"Not enough."
Just as the others watched this unprecedented step with rising excitement, reaching a realm never before attained, Acheron, who stood to the side, suddenly spoke.
"What's missing?" Mobius asked softly. She did not doubt Acheron's words.
Though Self-Annihilators did not lose all capacity for thought, for someone like Acheron, most things in the cosmos could not affect her.
Nor did she have much she cared about. Thus, Mobius did not question her attitude and directly asked what was lacking. This itself was her acknowledgment of Acheron.
Perhaps it was trust in the person wearing that face. Acheron shook her head slightly and said calmly, "I don't know what's missing either, but my intuition tells me something is indeed missing."
What was missing…
Just as everyone pondered this, the obsidian crystal originally used as decoration suddenly erupted with violent tremors. Centered on itself, multicolored energy waves rippled outward like water.
The gazes of Herta and the others were drawn to it.
The instant this crystal abruptly revealed its nature, something vanished from its original position, and in the next moment, reappeared in a massive quantum sea and a severing network of primal light.
This was a region rarely affected by the conflict between the Quantum Sea and the Imaginary Tree, remote and secluded.
Mobius and the other two did not lose track of it, especially with Mobius present.
Ruan Mei's gaze fell upon the region that, after releasing its energy, was now collapsing directly and violently.
Faintly, she heard a string of wild laughter. The sound was bewitching and eerily familiar, as though she had heard it somewhere before…
To study that kind of existence, merely searching within the cosmos was not enough.
So…
"Aha is here to help!"
The Aeon of Elation loved nothing more than wandering the cosmos and meddling in Ruan Mei's affairs.
How could such a fun thing happen without Them? The cosmos must have laughter!
"% … (*¥)"
A string of Aeon language, like encrypted code, spread across countless worlds. Once again, Aha made Their unique contribution to the cosmos.
"Dong!"
A sound like a morning bell and evening drum reverberated.
Before their eyes, one strange and dazzling scene after another appeared. As time within this wondrous world stretched on, familiar yet unfamiliar images gradually surfaced.
…
"Genuis Society, Lady Herta!"
Below stood countless faces filled with reverence, madness, disdain, and indifference.
Every gaze was fixed on that seemingly petite figure.
Very young, the real Herta rather than a puppet stood tall, a confident smile at her lips. She did not spare even a glance for the varied expressions below.
She was Herta, a genius destined to resound throughout the cosmos. Her formidable intellect ensured an extraordinary life.
She had long been prepared. Born this way, the world of geniuses had no need for unnecessary things. As long as she stood there, the lights would instinctively converge upon her. She was born to be the center of all attention.
"This is… my own experience? Is this… the past?" Herta, driven by scientific curiosity, reached out toward someone nearby who was clapping excitedly. Her hand passed through without resistance.
There was no doubt. This was indeed her past.
"Something like the Garden of Recollection's memory storage?" She tilted her head slightly, watching the version of herself on the stage who ignored everyone else entirely.
Looking at her past self, Herta fell silent, emotions brewing.
"…No matter how I look at it, I really am perfect." Nodding in satisfaction, she let out a soft laugh.
Past or present, she was perfect all the same. Surveying her surroundings, Herta could tell this place was fundamentally different from the memory environments constructed by the Garden of Recollection.
If the Garden's approach to memory was storage, allowing manipulation and reshaping like clay without truly affecting reality, then what she stood within now was unmistakably the past itself.
She simply could not interfere with her past self.
"Sigh, looks like even the world is jealous of a perfect genius like me." She brushed back her hair and laughed lightly.
If she was seeing her own past, then what about the others?
…
Endless monsters tore apart every life in their path. Once-flourishing worlds lay in ruins. No matter how one struggled, it was all futile. People collapsed into pools of blood, endlessly tormenting the nerves of the survivors.
Gripping the scabbard tightly, the wanderer named Acheron lowered her gaze.
Izumo. Her homeland.
This sealed memory unfolded before her without restraint. The devastation of her home stirred no ripples in her heart.
But… this was her homeland.
Everyone perceived their homeland differently, but at the very least, from childhood until she could grip a blade, her life there had held both bitterness and sweetness.
Thus, when facing these memories, she could not remain indifferent.
Her gaze passed through crowds, monsters, mountains, and forests, finally settling on a figure clad in training garb, holding a blade, resolute yet fragile.
That was her former self. Her powerless self.
The blade slowly slid from its sheath. Colors around her spread like ink in water..
"Clink."
The blade returned to its sheath. In the end, it was never drawn.
Not because it could not be, but because it was unnecessary.
A belated blade could not save anything, not even a tiny flower bud so small it would naturally be overlooked. She was no longer who she once was, and her past homeland was ultimately just that, the past.
The land called home had already vanished from her world.
…
Mobius's world was simple.
Her childhood was spent without a mother and among people who viewed her as a monster. Or rather, the time she spent seeing that man was not even worth mentioning. From a very early age, Mobius learned to support herself.
In the process, she constantly improved, eventually becoming a towering peak within the academic world.
Until she joined the organization known as Fire Moth. A group of parasites who were always cutting her experimental funding.
"Other than those people, Fire Moth really didn't leave me with any interesting impressions." She yawned lazily, utterly unconcerned with how worthy of remembrance the scenes before her were.
"Dr. Mobius, this is the coffee you wanted, and your instant noodles. The lab funds are almost gone again. Do you know when the next allocation will come?"
"…Alright." Fine. Vill-V wasn't too bad.
At least she would make her instant noodles. As an aside, Mobius had already brought Klein back.
She had simply granted the hardworking and dutiful Klein a vacation. Mobius's final memory stopped at the image of the Godzilla that granted her rebirth.
Looking at that towering figure, even the proud bird lowered its gaze slightly.
…
Compared to Mobius, whose experiences were oddly similar, Ruan Mei's childhood was far happier.
She had loving parents and hobbies she adored. She liked traditional opera and pastries, and was also interested in embroidery.
Her childhood was genuinely joyful. But as someone once said, happy times are always short.
And so Ruan Mei entered a period of solitude. Yet she found it not bad at all, and even quite enjoyed being alone.
Then came Herta. Suddenly, a lively girl appeared within her memories.
It was Herta. Throughout Ruan Mei's long life, Herta occupied many interesting scenes.
Though many of those scenes should never have occurred, forcibly made real by Herta's arrival, Ruan Mei found them rather amusing.
Beyond that… Ruan Mei calmly watched as two interlinked spirals appeared before her. It was an extremely interesting genetic code.
Then came several more, different genetic codes, their numbers increasing at a remarkable pace.
In mere moments, they filled the space before her. These were all the fruits of Ruan Mei's efforts.
Her academic achievements. Most were unknown to the outside world, and even those few that became known usually did so because unstable gene combinations caused organisms to go berserk.
The numbers kept growing. Ruan Mei knew exactly how many genetic combinations she possessed.
Yet when all the spirals appeared at once, the impact was overwhelming. Countless genetic spirals gradually obscured Ruan Mei's world, covering even the aloof woman herself, until…
"Roar."
A familiar low growl rang out, scattering everything.
Pitch-black mountains shattered everything in their path, occupying Ruan Mei's entire world.
It was a miracle, a question of fate. Ruan Mei's red lips parted slightly, a smile blooming on her face like an epiphyllum.
…
"Hah!"
Abruptly, everyone shuddered. The experiences drawn from themselves shattered like ice crystals.
They opened their eyes. They remained in their places, none missing.
The four looked at one another, each seeing in the others' expressions confirmation that they had all undergone the same kind of experience.
Just as they were about to speak, they all sensed something descending, something appearing around them.
It bore traces that did not belong to this world, or perhaps it was the world itself.
Their muddled minds began to clear. They reconsidered where they were.
Was this still the cosmos? All thought came to a halt the moment that indescribable existence descended.
Familiar pupils appeared.
But on a scale far beyond anything they had known.
As vast as a planet, no, far more than that. Though impossible to measure, all of them shared the same thought at that moment.
This was not merely a planet. What it contained was an immense universe beyond estimation or description.
Countless unknown substances, bearing a presence heavier than worlds themselves, drifted and filled the surroundings.
When that gaze slowly lowered, settling upon them, everyone stopped breathing in unison.
So familiar a form, yet imbued with an incomparable strangeness.
A majestic body, familiar bearing. Everything spoke to them of one truth.
"Hoo…"
An incomparably gentle sound fell upon their ears, stirring monstrous waves within their hearts.
This was the being known as Singularity Godzilla.