The breath of death was about to swallow his consciousness.
That feeling of helplessness was like having lead weights tied to his body and sinking into the depths of the sea.
Suppressed, silent, lightless.
All was silent, because he had already lost all perception.
As the humanoid monster covered in clown masks invaded the reality space where the Astral Express resided, everything around began to rot and distort.
The power of the eldritch contamination caused indescribable changes throughout the train cars.
The originally cold metal walls turned into writhing blood vessels and flesh.
One by one, scarlet tentacles swayed on their surface like insects.
If there was any place that could be called hell, the Astral Express at this moment might also qualify in appearance.
Aha was still laughing wildly.
“Hahaha, do you believe in miracles, kid?”
The pink-haired girl slowly raised her palm, grinning, tears and snot streaming down her face, yet she seemed to be shaken by some powerful will, such that even the Aeon of Elation’s control over this body began to waver.
A girl who had lost her past, at this moment, with only her own will, reclaimed her arm from an Aeon’s control!
Although Aha was not the type of Aeon skilled in mental manipulation, such a feat was enough to move even Them.
“Interesting, hahaha!
Interesting!”
They gazed at the source of contamination that They had exiled to a parallel universe and which had now returned to the car, and casually relaxed Their control over the body.
So, in the instant she reclaimed her body, March 7th lunged forward, embracing the humanoid skeleton covered in rotting flesh from behind, placing her palm on the rotting back of that maggot-covered hand.
She said, “Believe in yourself, Cang.
You can do it…”
Although she was also filled with fear and uncertainty about everything before her, she could empathize with the emotions contained in this skeleton at this moment.
At the same time, the terrifying humanoid monster covered in clown masks also began to move.
The mask on its head split open with a crack, revealing a massive mouth perpendicular to the ground, full of layer upon layer of fangs.
One by one, dark red or pitch-black tentacles extended from it, slowly reaching toward the pink-haired girl and the rotting skeleton with their backs turned to it.
These tentacles were not disgusting, but each one carried intense visual and mental contamination.
Just a single glance would drive an ordinary person hysterical, into madness, even into indescribable eldritch mutation.
The power of contamination filled the car.
Even an Aeon’s incomparably powerful will would be affected by the contamination to some degree.
But March 7th seemed to pay it no heed.
A semi-transparent figure left her body and walked toward the source of the starry contamination, calmly meeting its gaze.
Only when a faint sound of pen tip against paper was heard did that phantom let out a wild laugh of relief.
Aha laughed.
Just as in the past, when They climbed to the branch of the Imaginary Tree and heard that baby’s cry, They laughed out loud.
Life is fragile as paper, yet it can give birth to countless variables and bring countless possibilities.
The infant who once fell to the ground crying was like this, and now, even as the last thread of will was about to dissipate, the youth still firmly gripping the pen in his hand was also like this.
To understand joy is the exclusive right of intelligent life.
Stones and stars cannot comprehend the humor of life.
Elation is the dignity of life.
And at this moment, the dignity of life existed in the girl’s joyful smile, in the woman’s gentle gaze, in the man’s silent vigil, in the young man’s quiet advance, and also beneath the youth’s cold pen tip.
For countless years, Aha had pursued a joy that others could not understand.
Seeking an enemy worth matching, seeking a game to pass the time, seeking an outcome regardless of victory or defeat.
Seeking a joke to laugh oneself silly over, seeking a misunderstanding born of coincidence, seeking a song of soaring imagination.
And now, all of this was trampled by indescribable contamination.
The dignity and joy of life had become disordered and meaningless in twisted chaos.
At the thought that this meaningless chaos would spread across the entire universe in the future, Aha regarded it as the greatest obstacle on Their path of Elation…
and of course, also the greatest amusement.
So, They responded to Cang’s prayer and came here.
And also met another interesting fellow besides the [Source of Eldritch Contamination].
Ye Cang’s vitality had already dispersed, but his consciousness had not completely died.
In the suffocating darkness, a pair of warm small hands cupped his cheeks.
The girl’s soft call awakened him from endless haze and gloom.
When he opened his eyes, what met his sight was only a pen in his hand, and five twisted palms gently resting on the back of his hand.
He did not need to look up to know clearly which companion on the train each of these palms belonged to.
The power transmitted one by one caused flesh and tendons to grow on his withered bones.
Under the stimulation of invisible nerve bundles, his wrist moved once again.
“The curse of eternal undying!”
Yes, not simply immortality, but even if deeply infected by the source of contamination, even if his soul was annihilated to ash by an Aeon, this body would not easily die!
This way, after he took control of this body,
This was the answer Ye Cang had arrived at.
He raised his head, following the spiritual sense toward where Aha was, but at the same time sensed several terrifying auras equal to Theirs.
Without exception, they were all Aeon-level terrifying existences!
In a spinning whirl, Ye Cang felt his soul seemed to be pulled out of his body by an irresistible mighty force, exposed in the boundless river of stars.
After leaving the shackles of his flesh, he instead regained sight and hearing.
When he subconsciously opened his eyes, what he first saw was the entire starry vortex beneath his feet.
Countless shining stars flowed like glowing sand beneath him, brilliant and dazzling.
Then, he saw the “Tree,” connecting sky and earth, as if spanning the entire universe.
Every branch connected to stars, every root reached straight into the boundless sea of stars.
One could not tell whether the universe had given birth to this invisible “Tree,” or whether the “Tree” supported the entire tangible universe.
Rather than a tree, it was more like light gathered from countless worlds, only that light happened to take the shape of a “Tree.”
Ye Cang was naturally not unfamiliar with this tree.
After all, it was one of the two foundations of the Honkai worldview.
The Imaginary Tree, also known as the Tree of Existence.
At this moment, beneath the branches of the Imaginary Tree, Ye Cang stood in silence.
Four enormous Aeon incarnations surrounded him in the center.
He lowered his head, not daring to look directly at the faces of these great beings, because the instinct branded deep in his soul told him that if he raised his head, he would surely die!
A mortal’s vision cannot contain the true appearance of a great being, and the philosophical concepts and truths representing the entire universe would instantly burst his brain, annihilating his consciousness and soul along with it.
These Aeons were far more powerful than what Ye Cang had seen or read in the game!
They were practically existences comparable to Great Old Ones and Outer Gods!
Especially two of them, who vaguely gave him the feeling that they could destroy the universe with a raise of their hand.
“How is it?
Mr.
Aha, are you satisfied with the one I picked?”
An Aeon spoke with a smile.
He had a form and appearance no different from a human, with a handsome, slightly feminine face, glowing all over.
His five fingers spread upward, seemingly holding an independent world in his palm, while the river of stars rotated behind his head, forming a magnificent divine halo with the entire universe as its background.
Among the four Aeons present, he gave Ye Cang the most unfathomable feeling, as if he were the universe itself, powerful and infinite, containing endless mysteries.
“My assessment has passed, hahaha.
Mr.
Moon, I acknowledge your eye for selection!
A truly interesting little fellow.
I look forward to him bringing me more amusement in this chaotic, eldritch future!”
Aha’s voice was not unfamiliar to Ye Cang.
The form They manifested was countless masks, some crying, some laughing, and some objects symbolizing Elation: ribbons, balloons, cups, balls, music boxes…
Compared to “Mr.
Moon’s” humanoid incarnation, Aha’s existence seemed closer to the essence of “Elation,” a manifestation of countless joyful things.
“Cang’s memories are delicious.
In exchange, little one, your past, present, and future, your memories from countless death loops, will all belong to me.”
The cold, hoarse voice came from the third Aeon.
Their entire body was composed of ice crystals.
Pale white crystals formed Their imperial body.
Stars were but jade beads hanging from Their crown.
Compared to “Mr.
Moon’s” power and unfathomability, “Aha’s” joy and playfulness with the world, this Aeon gave Ye Cang the most wondrous feeling, as if They were the vessel of countless lives’ memories and experiences.
Yes, the vessel of memory, heavy history, the Aeon who governs [Remembrance], Fuli.
“In exchange, I will grant you an additional function of the Death Diary.”
Fuli removed a pendant bead made of a star from Their crown and gently pushed it into Ye Cang’s chest.
With this action, a Death Diary entirely composed of memory crystals appeared in Ye Cang’s mind.
As long as he wished, he could take it out from “memory” at any time!
Ye Cang was greatly shocked.
As expected, the origin of the Death Diary was related to Fuli, the Aeon of [Remembrance].
And the ability of the “Remembrance” Path was far more terrifying than he had imagined!
Not only could it “freeze” and “archive” the memories of living beings, it could even retrieve objects from “memories of the past” and materialize people who existed in the past!
Ye Cang had no doubt that with the memory archives Fuli had accumulated over the years, it was truly possible to recreate a world that existed only in the past.
A perfect [Remembrance] of the entire universe!
Vaguely, he seemed to glimpse Fuli’s terrifying “foresight” and “ambition.”
“Ahahaha, it’s rare for old man Fuli to be so generous.
We can’t hide our own treasures either.
Let me think, what’s the most suitable [starter pack] for you…”
“Got it!” Aha clapped Their hands, all the masks on Their body shaking along.
Infected by Their power, the three other Aeons present all involuntarily smiled.
“Ta-da!”
A special mask fell from Aha’s body and landed in Ye Cang’s hand.
The material of the mask was unknown.
Half black, half white.
One half was a crying face, the other half a smiling face.
What it conveyed was not only “Elation,” but also an indescribable “sorrow.”
This seemed to run counter to Aha’s Path of “Elation.”
“This is my [object of godhood], the last [mask] I wore before I took control of the Elation Path.
It is also a reward for passing the trial.”
“Wear it, and you will be able to see the world through my eyes.
The world of Elation.”