Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Finality is cold and ruthless. They see things akin to an open book. They oppose all concepts. The absurdity of their presence being in the 'future' was something else. 

A core feature of the game, Finality's Vision, allows players to unlock new events even if they aren't done with the story yet.

'Back then, it's Finality's intent. Now, it's the way they see the world.'

Aleph felt extremely fortunate to not have resolved this entire 'Lostbelt' when he gained Lord of the Mysteries. His planned meetings are akin to required quests.

If he hadn't planned to meet Akivili and the Stellaron Hunters, he wouldn't have known so many things about Finality. 

Most importantly…

'The dead end I felt back then…'

A sense of unease appeared in Aleph's mind when he thought of ending this 'Lostbelt' before. It was telling him that he missed something important—important enough to complete Finality's puzzle (i.e., test).

Given Akivili's consequences of failing, Aleph does not want to experience it for himself.

'There's only one task remaining.'

He thought of Bosenmori Mei's whereabouts. This task, which should have been the easiest, became the hardest.

It wasn't only due to IX, the Aeon of Nihility. 

Aleph looked at this physical universe's hundred-thousand years of history and found no traces of Bosenmori Mei. He only saw the twin planets, Izumo and Takamagahara, that were destroyed by IX's shadow.

Even when he tried looking for her on IX's side, he found literally nothing. IX did not have an Emanator like her.

'There's one power that can block out mine…'

Finality.

One way or another, Bosenmori Mei might have interacted with Finality.

Aleph reorganized his thoughts in a flash. He found Silverwolf was closely looking at his expression, but to no avail.

Microexpression management was something he completed way back when he was still on Fire MOTH. This did bring him back to the past, though, and recalled someone.

'Vill-V… Let's just hope I won't get eaten alive.'

"This concludes the deal. It's helpful for me." Aleph stated as he placed both the notebook and the Driver Belt atop the table. "I will grant you four a wish. It depends on you whether or not to use it."

She became interested when Aleph mentioned a wish. The way he mentioned it, it was as if he was a God high up the sky…

Like an Aeon.

"Remember. You can call my name."

With a mix of excitement, Aleph handed his honorary name.

"Lord of Mysteries;

Ruler of Past, Present, and Future;

Breaker of the predetermined;

Pioneer of endless unknowns;

Propagator of all Eternity."

Each syllable that came out of his mouth caused Silverwolf's mind to halt. By the time he finished speaking, she found out that he was already gone.

Only the empty cup across the table and the weird-looking Driver Belt was left.

"Aeon… Perpetuity."

Strangely, a name popped up in her head. The honorific name she heard pointed out to the Aeon of Perpetuity.

Silverwolf now understood why Elio gave away the notebook without any struggles. That was his most precious 'script'.

In the face of a legitimate Aeon, resistance is futile. Elio's decision to offer it up gave all four of them a wish from an Aeon.

Thinking of Aha and then Perpetuity, Silverwolf thought:

"How can he be… more petty?"

*****

"Ha… Yes, I should spread my honorific name more often. Having to do a ritual of sorts to summon me is pretty cool."

After satisfying his small vanity, Aleph returned to Xianzhou with a smile. He opened the gate to their courtyard and saw Mobius in her full body. She was reading one of the hard copies from the Sanctum. 

Given its endless wealth of knowledge, it was easy to be fascinated.

"Ho? You didn't take long."

"It's just a simple talk." 

He looked around and did not see Hua and Senti. When he locked eyes with Mobius, he knew what she was cooking.

"They are still in their dojo. Speaking of it… they are renovating it."

Due to their initial popularity and the effectiveness of the 'Taixuan Art' they taught, there had been more people wanting to register. The location of their dojo only allowed a hundred or so students, hence the renovations.

Mobius closed the book she was reading and placed it atop the table. Her snake-like pupils narrowed down to a slit, in contrast to her smile that was getting wider.

Aleph knew he was checkmated this time.

"Don't worry. I won't go back with my promises."

She stood up from her chair and walked closer to Aleph. Her chest was pressed on him. 

It was a critical strike.

"Just like last night?" He asked.

"Yes."

Her reply made him no longer hesitate. He took the initiative to press his lips against hers. It stayed like this for a while. Aleph took the lead as he pried her mouth open with his tongue.

For the second time, he experienced how it was to play with Mobius' slender snake tongue. It was mind-numbingly good.

While they were caught up in their own world, Aleph's pupils regained their focus. Mobius saw this and broke free from her fixation.

Several silver strings appeared between them as they separated.

"You predicted a lot of things."

"Well?"

"Vill-V appeared on the other side… along with Mei."

*****

The entire parallel universe—Lostbelt—was isolated from the real universe. Aleph could not exert a single ounce of his strength on the other side.

The gap between them targeted him greatly. 

It was a cage specially built for him.

It was precisely due to that that the others found a chance to send 'projections' of themselves in the parallel universe.

"Hm? Hm?"

Kiana blinked her eyes thrice as she saw two women on their front gate. She was currently studying listlessly in her room on the second floor.

"Strange… Are they robbers too?"

She could not help but look at the direction of the room across hers. Ever since Bronya's failed break-in, Aleph took them in. He claimed to Kiana that she could act as a "big sister" of sorts.

Although she was silent most of the time, she was still capable of interacting with Kiana. Thus, an impression of Bronya being the weird silent kid was formed in her mind.

"Hm?"

This time, she stared directly at the palm-sized robotic ELF sitting on her desk. The usually stern ELF was silent.

She looked back and forth between him and the two women on the front gate. An incredulous thought entered her mind.

"They're your friends?"

"...Yeah."

Kiana was dumbfounded when she heard the answer. It was the second time she saw Aleph's friends.

The first time, she didn't even see a shadow of his 'friend'. She assumed his friend was a ghost of sorts who can appear out of nowhere.

Just then, she recalled her own old man.

"Are they really your friends?" She asked innocently.

"Why?"

"Because that's the look of my old man whenever he mentions my mum!"

For the first time, Kiana's slightly better intellect played its role.