"Universal Harmony, may the stars shine as one (The world is in harmony, the stars shine together, praise be to the Great One!)." This was how the world praised the Aeon of Harmony.
In the past, Robin had only understood the positive meaning in this phrase: that the Harmony would embrace the world with Their power. But now, she finally understood its negative implication.
"Universal Harmony" meant incorporating the entire universe into Their harmonious score.
And "may the stars shine as one" meant that the parts the Harmony sought to embrace even included the Aeons themselves!
"Is this truly the will of our Aeon...?" Robin lowered her eyes, finally understanding everything.
If Nous was born to calculate the ultimate answer to the universe, Fuli to back up the universe's data, and Qlipoth to preserve the embers of civilization, then the Aeon of Harmony was born to assimilate the universe, to assimilate the other gods.
In Their vision, They would control everything, embrace everything, until They were the only Aeon left in the universe.
This strong tendency towards inclusion was, from another perspective, endless aggression, a relentless exclusion of all that was different.
Contrary to Their peaceful facade, this was an Aeon destined to incite war.
So, March 7th's description was correct. The Path of Harmony was not aligned with Robin's own wishes. The Aeon had not come to bring peace to the world, but to bring a sword to the land.
With such a desire, the Aeon of Harmony would sooner or later make a move against the other Aeons. They hadn't done so before simply because they lacked the advantage.
Their sudden move now was purely because Su Mo's power was too tempting.
Like a lighthouse spotting a vast oil field, how could They, who saw in Su Mo the potential to assimilate the power of the gods, possibly restrain Themselves?
"The Path of Harmony has no good or evil, only results." As if sensing Robin's resistance, Xipe did not explain, but instead issued a proclamation. "Only with universal harmony can the world form the most beautiful symphony."
As for the blood and tears shed in the process of promoting this universal value, to an Aeon, they were trivial matters not worth mentioning.
Hearing this, Robin lost all hope in Them.
If peace could only be brought about by achieving universal harmony, then what if it couldn't be achieved? Didn't that mean the Aeon of Harmony would wage an eternal war of aggression?
Robin silently stood in front of Su Mo, choosing her side.
Looking at the young woman before him, and at Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony, Su Mo himself wasn't particularly interested in the Aeon's will.
The goals of the Aeons were mostly simple and clear, but they lacked a comprehensive cosmology. In terms of complexity, they were actually a step below.
It was only because human history had reached an interstellar stage that they were capable of things beyond the imagination of the Little Garden.
Compared to the Aeon's trivial goal, Su Mo was more interested in Their methods.
"You knew I could use the power of Paths to enhance the Pantheon, so you deliberately channeled your own power to strengthen my statue, then used the assimilation of the Path of Harmony to turn my statue into your avatar?" Su Mo looked at the Aeon before him with a slightly strange expression.
"That's a genius idea. Who taught you to do that?"
Hearing Su Mo's words, everyone else finally understood how the Aeon of Harmony had managed to launch a sneak attack.
The power of the Pantheon was, simply put, an imitation of divine power, an imitation that could even reach the level of the original. And the concept of a statue itself implied a divine avatar.
For other Aeons, this might not be important, but for the Aeon of Harmony, the statues were a massive loophole in the Pantheon.
Su Mo could use a divine avatar to obtain the power of the Aeon of Harmony through a statue. So why couldn't the Aeon of Harmony use the concept of a divine avatar to seize control of the statue within the Pantheon?
Just as in the past, when the power of Harmony enveloped Order and They devoured Dominicus.
As long as They invested more power than Su Mo, They could use the all-assimilating nature of Harmony to assimilate Their own statue in the Pantheon.
This was a blatant conspiracy, and Dominicus was a trap They had intentionally thrown out!
"What an insidious Aeon! No less than Lord Aha!" Sparkle exclaimed. It was hard to tell if it was a compliment or a criticism.
"The power of the Aeons is so bizarre and unpredictable!" Himeko was also shaken and looked at Su Mo with concern. "What should we do now?" She tightened her grip on her weapon, feeling a little unsure. "How can we stop the Aeon of Harmony?"
Faced with her question, Welt, who was next to her, also tightened his grip on his cane but showed no intention of acting. "Wait a moment!"
"What do you mean?" Himeko was confused.
"Things might not be as bad as we think," Welt shook his head and said in a low voice. "Remember what Little March said? If Lord Su Mo wanted to leave, he could do so at any time with that. Since he hasn't, he must be confident."
"Otherwise, with Lord Su Mo's character, would he let a delicate young woman stand in front of him like this?"
Hearing this, Himeko finally understood and relaxed a little.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Aeon of Harmony couldn't tell if Su Mo was being genuine or not, and simply took it as a real compliment. "The greatness of Harmony is sufficient to attune all things in the world. If you hadn't absorbed the power of Harmony, it might have been difficult. But now, you will soon become a part of Harmony."
As They spoke, They no longer reached for Su Mo. After a few seconds, Xipe's statue came completely to life. This meant They could now wield Their full power through it.
Then, the symphony of Harmony began. A melody like the starry sky spread out from Their statue, enveloping the phantoms of the other gods.
Qlipoth the Preservation, Nous the Erudition, Yaoshi the Abundance, Fuli the Remembrance, Aha the Elation... In the Pantheon, these Aeons were already positioned near the Harmony, and all were in an illuminated state.
Now, under the corrosion of the Aeon of Harmony, the exteriors of these divine statues were all shrouded in Xipe's mysterious, starry light.
Except for not daring to provoke the weakest, Lan the Hunt; the most vivid, Ruan Mei the Life; and the strongest, IX the Nihility, all the other Aeons were enveloped in Xipe's melody.
"Is this... corroding the other Aeons?" Black Swan quickly realized Xipe's goal. After seizing control of Xipe's statue from Su Mo, the Aeon of Harmony was using it as a springboard to try and corrode the Paths of the other Aeons.
In the outside world, doing so would surely incur the hostility of the other Aeons. In the war of Paths, there was no room for concession.
But in the Pantheon, these powers were merely gifts of Paths obtained by Su Mo. The Aeons themselves might not care about what happened to something they had already given away.
And indeed, that was the case. Except for Aha letting out a schadenfreude-filled laugh, the statues of the other Aeons were corroded by Xipe the Harmony without any resistance.
Xipe's authority to attune all things, combined with the Pantheon, directly unleashed the potential to devour the gods!
"Lord Su Mo, are you just going to stand there and watch?" Seeing Xipe corrode the other gods, Sparkle was finally getting antsy.
Do something! Even if you can't win, at least fight back! Otherwise, you'll just be watching the Aeon of Harmony grow stronger and eventually turn into a monster that can truly devour the gods!
Seeing the Aeon of Elation being devoured without any resistance, she really couldn't laugh anymore. Wasn't the God of Fun supposed to love watching the fun? Why weren't you doing anything now?
Faced with Sparkle's anxiety, Su Mo shook his head calmly. "If I don't observe carefully, how can I understand how They attune all things?"
"Huh?" Sparkle was dumbfounded. Now is not the time for research! Bro, your entire house is about to be stolen!
At that moment, Robin suddenly remembered something. "Attune all things..."
The first time she met Lord Su Mo, hadn't he said he was interested in the Aeon of Harmony's authority to attune all things and had come seeking inspiration? But to still be thinking about seeking inspiration at a time like this, wasn't that a bit too dangerous?
Just as Robin was filled with doubt and alarm, Acheron, still frozen in mid-air, frowned slightly. "No! They aren't just corroding the other Aeons. What They're seizing is the entire Pantheon!"
Hearing Acheron's warning, everyone else finally noticed that it wasn't just the few Aeons; even the ground beneath their feet was being corroded into the same dark, starry light as Xipe's body.
Anyone with a slight understanding of theology would come to the same conclusion as Acheron. The ground on which a divine statue stands is part of the temple, an element as important as the statue itself.
If the entire temple were to be seized, then the Pantheon would truly change hands, becoming the property of Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony!
Confirming this, Sparkle, Black Swan, Dr. Ratio, and the others all showed anxious expressions.
If Xipe really managed to devour it, then things would get really out of hand. When Xipe gained the power to devour the gods, the entire universe would know no peace.
It was no exaggeration to say that this was a crisis on a universe-destroying level, even more worthy of vigilance than Nanook the Destruction.
However, at the same time, Aventurine, Topaz, and the others wore strangely odd expressions.
"Corroding the Pantheon?!" When Topaz exclaimed, her tone even carried a hint of surprise that no one else could understand.
For those who hadn't seen the complete Pantheon, Xipe the Harmony's actions were extremely dangerous and could lead to a new cataclysm.
But for those who had seen the true Pantheon, Xipe's actions were equally dangerous.
But the danger was to Themselves.
"What, is there a turn of events?" Dr. Ratio keenly sensed the change in Topaz's attitude and immediately asked.
"You'll see." Looking at Xipe's actions, and remembering the great existence she had glimpsed when she offered the Divine Body of the Amber Lord, Topaz shook her head, her eyes a mix of schadenfreude and pity.
"I hope They can last a little longer."
"Hmm?"