The world fell into silence.
The implosions of crashed starskiffs disappeared in the cold void. The borisins who managed to step foot into Fanghu were gone.
It was as if everything was nothing but a bad dream.
There were people who did not remain still at this moment, however.
Yuque's Divination Commission was said to be the 'best' when it came to, well, divining. Their high-end equipment and connection to 'Nous', the Aeon of Erudition, allowed them to reach such a pinnacle.
"..."
Jingtian's appearance was similar to normal old men. He did not have the wizened 'beard', however, as he insisted on keeping his buzz cut and box-shaped beard.
Instead of a wise man, he looked like a military man.
The flickering lights of the Cloudpeer Telescope were reflected in his slightly dull eyes. It was a jade abacci glowing with dim light. It was made up of nine circular rings locked together, forming something similar to a planet's ring.
Its size was merely that of a fifteen-feet desk, though its true form took up five hundred square meters. It could be considered a 'divine artifact' of sorts, thus its myriad of functions.
Just as he was about to use it to deduce which one came, he was seemingly transported into the vast void itself.
Jingtian saw the entire fleet of the borisins coupled with its millions of foot soldiers. There was even a throbbing sphere whom he recognized as the Ketu Mirage, the living planet who posed a huge threat to Xianzhou's Fanghu.
Above them all was a boy clad in dark blue clothing. The boy's attire bore similarities with the typical Xianzhou outfit that looked like a Hanfu bundled with several layers of clothing and even armor.
Jingtian's eyes were keen enough to see its differences.
A name flashed in his mind.
"Izumo."
Nearly everyone in this vast explored universe knew of the twin planets—Izumo and Takamagahara. They were destroyed due to unknown causes, which prompted the appearance of Enigmata.
Their influence was so potent everyone held guesses of several Aeons being involved in Izumo's downfall.
Unfortunately, even Nous' blessing could not enable the Xianzhou to tear apart the fog set up by Enigmata. All that was left were the remnants of its culture which were acquired by several major organizations.
"..."
The boy heard his words and looked towards him.
The moment they locked gazes…
"..!"
Jingtian's body froze in place. The solemn atmosphere around him was something that only appears with Their influence being potent enough.
Meaning to say, the boy in front of his eyes was an Emanator, the direct spokesperson of an Aeon. These people could directly interact with the Aeons of their [Path].
The boy worded something to him before letting out a smile. His mouth did not let out any voice of sorts—only complex information used to directly convey intent towards him.
What followed next was his right arm crumpling something.
Zoom-!
There was a visible 'effect' within the minds of many. The sound did not occur physically, yet everyone boarding the Fanghu heard it.
An extremely huge hand made up of translucent light emerged out of thin air. It simulated a picking gesture as it covered the entire battlefield under its palm.
Space itself was torn. Three hundred million kilometers of radius disappeared right in an instant. The patch of void that was torn had traces of pure black as well as gray-colored lights.
Followed by it was the disappearance of the translucent hand along with the entire army of Abundance. The problem that placed Fanghu in a calamity of destruction was resolved just like that.
It wasn't until the boy disappeared from Jingtian's sight did the latter move. His hundreds of years of experience allowed him to maintain his composure. Although, shock could not be hidden in his eyes.
"Nihility…"
He could not help but think of the two factions surrounding this Path.
One of them, the Doctors of Chaos, sought to fight the influence brought by Nihility. They tried to bring meaning amidst the meaninglessness.
The other one, the Self-Annihilators, was a group composed of individuals who gave in to Nihility. This faction does not bear any characteristics of a group 'much'. Rather than that, it was a unified 'name' they decided upon themselves.
Jingtian saw the influence of Nihility from the boy. It was akin to a black dot on a pure white canvas.
"If it was the latter…"
"The latter..? You mean, the Self-Annihilators? Is their reputation that bad?"
The childish voice from his back made him stop everything he was doing.
"..."
Jingtian fell silent. He was the only one boarding this ship.
He turned around and saw a blue-haired boy curiously touching the Cloudpeer Telescope all over the place. He appeared from one place to another. It was apt to say he was 'teleporting'.
The boy's golden pupils stared through one of the jade rings that function as an abacus of sorts.
"Oh… This artifact itself has something that attracts complex information… I can see why you planned to use it against this army."
Atop his palm was a black sphere. It was the size of the boy's fist.
The moment Jingtian's eyes contacted it, he "saw" the millions of borisins and their starskiff ships moving aimlessly inside this dark sphere. Along them was the living planet, Ketu Mirage, whose size reached over seventy thousand kilometers in circumference.
The boy then grasped it with his fingers before pushing it towards his palm. It disappeared as if the entire army of Abundance weren't there to begin with.
'Metatron. Analyze this thing…"
{Alert. Analysis in progress. Initiating in-depth scan…}
Aleph's fingertips touched the cold jade. The moment he did so, he felt their gaze. He then vaguely saw a bright rainbow light headed their way.
He looked at the old man in front of him before sighing.
"I have a few favors to ask from you… no, not you." Aleph changed his words. "You can directly meet your Marshal, no?"
"...What are you planning to do?"
"Oh..?"
Despite speaking towards someone whose power was unimaginable, the old man did not falter. Aleph was greatly surprised by this.
"Aeons really brought interesting changes to this world…" His low mutter was caught by Jingtian's ears. "I want to know more about it."
Aleph's response did not fully satisfy Jingtian.
"I won't bring harm to your people. To prove this point…"
He straightened his crossed legs as he floated mid-air. He was facing the direction which the rainbow light came from.
"...I will deal with this one."
*****
A/N: Bonus chapter.