Look, high above faraway Penacony—something terrible is happening!
The AEON of ORDER who once died has been revived!
The revived AEON of ORDER, DESTRUDOS, is no ordinary AEON.
THEIR head has two faces, but those two faces share the same enemy and do not quarrel.
THEIR hands are puppet-like, THEIR essence condensed from the avatar of HARMONY, the Harmonious Choir.
THEIR body bears more than a hundred thousand faces, all of them active Family members.
Behind THEM, THEY also have a pair of steel wings for soaring through the sky.
And the endlessly rotating TWENTY-FOUR MOMENTS behind THEM are the land of STILLNESS that brought about THEIR resurrection.
To the people of Penacony, this configuration simply makes THEM the most vicious AEON in the entire universe!
Yet just as the AEON of ORDER, DESTRUDOS, was about to revive, the Astral Express, which had been wandering through the galaxy, discovered THEM.
And it immediately stepped forward, attempting to stop THEIR conspiracy!
After some time, the invincible Astral Express... did not fall!
Instead, it broke through the limits of a train and became the valiant Trailblaze Brave!
Facing DESTRUDOS's attacks, Trailblaze Brave was not affected in the slightest!
It even swung its UFO-like fist at this AEON, the most vicious existence imaginable to the people of Penacony!
And under this punch, a group of people united to begin a rebellion against a god... did they?
...
A punch blasted out, and countless transparent phantoms surged from the TWENTY-FOUR MOMENTS.
They fell from the sky like a brilliant rain of light, scattering downward and making Trailblaze Brave seem incomparably majestic.
And the effect of this punch was not limited to that...
Countless phantoms poured out from the TWENTY-FOUR MOMENTS, causing even the speed of their rotation to briefly stutter.
It was as if a tiny gear had been forcibly removed from a perfectly operating machine.
Although the effect on the whole was not too great, there was still an effect.
The moment it happened, DESTRUDOS erupted with overwhelming power, blasting Trailblaze Brave away from THEIR side.
[HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?]
DESTRUDOS could not believe it.
After that dazzling rain of light fell, the people in Penacony who had originally been lying quietly on the ground climbed to their feet one after another.
And that meant their consciousnesses had returned to their bodies.
But that should not have happened!
[NOW THAT THE PRELUDE OF ORDER HAS ALREADY BEEN PLAYED...]
The movement had already been played. Their souls, their consciousnesses, should already have sunk completely into the eternal land of STILLNESS!
They should already have become the cornerstone upon which the land of STILLNESS was founded, the cause of all creation!
[WHY HAS SUCH A THING HAPPENED?!]
The Prelude of ORDER had already been played, marking THEIR revival as completely fixed in place.
Next, THEY only had to continue performing the first movement, the second movement, the third movement...
THEIR power would keep rising until THEY dragged the entire universe into the land of STILLNESS.
But now, something had gone wrong!
The AEON's revival had been interrupted.
Something that should have been unstoppable had actually been interfered with by something else!
This was practically a denial of AEONS, and also a denial of the basic laws of this universe!
One had to know that within this universe, among the general public, there were only two known methods that could cause an AEON to fall.
The first was to initiate a divine war. The second was for a broader Path to devour a narrower Path.
But both of these applied only to AEONS who had already achieved godhood.
A member of the Genius Society had once proposed a hypothesis: when an AEON ascended, THEY were in a state of entanglement with the root of the Imaginary.
THEY caused a Path to go from unknowable to perceptible and walkable, and the AEON in this state existed under an extremely special condition.
And the root entangled with the AEON was the foundation from which all AEONS were born.
Therefore, in that state, an AEON was absolutely invincible, absolutely untouchable.
Of course, there was no concrete proof for the theory he had proposed, because observing the birth of an AEON was simply far too difficult.
But no matter what, from these statements, one could draw a conclusion that everyone tacitly accepted.
There had never been a method to defeat an AEON during the process of ascending to godhood.
Because an AEON's ascension to godhood could not be interrupted, nor could there possibly be any accidents!
Yet now, an accident had appeared.
Although the Path of ORDER had already been completely devoured by HARMONY, DESTRUDOS had reignited the divine flame, and what THEY practiced was a brand-new ORDER.
In other words, although THEY were outwardly called ORDER, what THEY revered in truth was THEIR own road.
Therefore, THEY could also be regarded as another AEON bearing the name of ORDER.
So normally speaking, THEIR ascension ritual should have been impossible to interrupt.
There should have been no possible issue with the cornerstone that allowed THEM to ignite the divine flame!
Because if something went wrong with the cornerstone, THEY could not possibly become an AEON at all.
But what had just happened denied all of this.
So DESTRUDOS could not help falling silent. THEY could not help using godlike wisdom to search the entire universe for the answer.
But...
THEY could not find it at all.
Living beings had difficulty even defining AEONS, such special existences in this universe. How could they possibly know why such a thing had happened?
Not to mention that, in their impressions, the Astral Express was an eternally unchanging train.
So after DESTRUDOS finished searching, THEY instead became even more confused.
However, THEY could still recognize one thing, and that was...
[HOSHIGAKI SORA! YOU UNKILLABLE MAGGOT!]
The mourning face was incomparably furious.
[I WILL CUT OPEN YOUR BODY! I WILL PIERCE YOUR SOUL!]
For THEM, whose careful plans had been ruined time and again, perhaps only this method could vent the anger in THEIR heart.
One could not blame THEM. How many times had this been now?
As the saying went, once or twice was one thing, but not again and again.
Whenever Sora appeared, THEY always suffered the most serious interference!
This had utterly enraged THEM, making THEM no longer willing to show any mercy.
DEATH-MOMENT DARK ANNIHILATION TUNE
In this instant, all of Penacony lost its color once more.
Darkness surged out like a tide, instantly enveloping the whole of Penacony.
The power of Death-Moment Dark Annihilation Tune caused even space to twist and deform, as if the whole world had been drawn into an enormous dark vortex.
Everyone on Trailblaze Brave felt unprecedented pressure. Under the impact of this dark power, the train flickered unsteadily and gave off waves of humming, as though it might shatter at any moment.
"Squeak~" (This power is simulating a black hole.)
After sensing that power, the capybara Capy Baba immediately issued its precise prediction.
This power was condensing what was known in the universe as a synonym for annihilation: a black hole.
And before such power, even the former Astral Express would have had to avoid its edge.
Being swallowed by a black hole was no joke.
From this point of view, DESTRUDOS truly was not lying.
Using a black hole to crush Trailblaze Brave, along with everyone inside it, into cosmic dust was perhaps exactly what THEY should be doing now.
As expected of a simulated black hole, the effect caused by Dark Annihilation Tune was indeed extraordinary.
Caught by its gravitational waves, even Trailblaze Brave was temporarily restrained.
Faced with this scene, everyone aboard the entire train became somewhat anxious.
"Mr. Hoshigaki, hurry and use those all-purpose thingies of yours to think of something!"
March 7th listened to the constant noises ringing beside her ears and offered Sora a suggestion.
"Why not let me try?"
Welt, who had recovered, stepped forward directly.
The Star of Eden could also simulate black holes. With that, it could briefly make Dark Annihilation Tune's gravitational waves unable to catch them.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak~" (No good. Your power is far too weak.)
Capy Baba said this bluntly.
Unfortunately, in its era, there had been no Synesthesia Beacon, so to everyone else, its words sounded like ordinary squeaks.
Only Sora's brow twitched, and he secretly glanced at Welt.
"Did it say something?"
Welt was somewhat puzzled.
"Nothing."
Sora shook his head.
Capy Baba's human handler often said that Capy Baba spoke too directly and lacked polish. Hearing it now, that did indeed seem to be the case.
If Welt could understand what it had just said, would he not cry himself to death on the spot?
Sora could clearly feel that excited mood and anticipation to do something for Trailblaze Brave.
For the sake of this gentleman's state of mind, there were some things he had better not say.
If something happened later, he could not bear the responsibility.
However, the fact that Capy Baba spoke directly did not mean it looked down on others.
It possessed an extraordinarily keen predictive ability.
When the Swarm Disaster raged, it had been the one to lead this train through the universe without making a single mistake.
Because of that, when it placed that predictive ability on the current matter...
"Squeak~" (Could you let those little ones out?)
It had watched everything that had happened just now.
Perhaps the method to escape the black hole lay with those little ones who possessed miraculous powers.
And Sora was the only one here who could understand it.
Therefore, its words to Sora were not that stiff.
Sora nodded. After Capy Baba finished examining these strange little ones, it made a series of decisions.
Trailblaze Brave, struggling in the darkness, suddenly seemed to lose its footing and was swallowed completely by the black hole created by Dark Annihilation Tune.
But even after seeing this, DESTRUDOS did not relax in the slightest.
Because just now, THEY had already made a decision: as long as Sora was not dead, THEY would never lower THEIR guard!
And the facts proved that THEIR choice was not wrong!
Only a few minutes after Trailblaze Brave was completely swallowed, the gravitational waves transmitted by the black hole before THEM suddenly underwent a strange change.
The speed of its pull became even faster, yet Penacony still stood unmoved, showing no influence whatsoever.
This was simply impossible.
A black hole's devouring was indiscriminate. It was not like a gale that had no effect when faced with a building.
The reason this could happen was, of course, because...
At the edge of that black hole, a wheel of golden light immediately spread out.
Against the backdrop of darkness, the light became extremely dazzling. And under the light's contrast, the darkness also became even deeper.
Had Capy Baba's choice failed?
No!
Within that dim darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly opened, and six sharp fangs floated behind it like wings.
Then, a figure left a streak of golden light in this darkness and shot straight toward the sky.
Only when it drew close did DESTRUDOS discover that a pair of wings had actually appeared on Trailblaze Brave's back!
'[KUROANA! RAINBOW GIGABAHAM]!'
'[BLACKBAHAMUT RAINBOW TRAILBLAZE BRAVE]!'
'[GOTCHANKO]!'
Not only had the black hole failed to devour it, the other party had even used a black hole of the same source to devour it, then perform alchemy again.
This successfully caused a pair of dragon wings capable of flying freely through the sky to appear on Trailblaze Brave.
'[HERE WE GO]!'
This was the optimal conclusion Capy Baba had reached through its incomparably precise predictive ability.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak~" (TRAILBLAZE never stops in one place.)
Even if the starfield ahead was full of swarms, it would not feel the slightest fear.
A bit of happiness entered Capy Baba's tone.
After all, for it, this was undoubtedly something worth being happy about!
[YOU DREGS! DO YOU THINK THIS IS ENOUGH TO HARM US?!]
DESTRUDOS had already raised THEIR guard earlier, so THEY showed no panic in the slightest when faced with Trailblaze Brave flapping its wings and flying up.
It could merely fly. To THEM, that was not some enormous threat!
But after hearing this, Capy Baba seemed somewhat puzzled.
"Squeak~" (Strange. Who said I was going to take the main attack?)
It had never been particularly skilled at fighting. What it liked most was to nest in the data bank and revise the star rail navigation charts.
Its contributions to the Astral Express could indeed not be called dazzling.
But the influence it left behind was extremely far-reaching.
Because even after Capy Baba's star rail navigation charts fell into Himeko's hands, they were still being used to this day.
So the reason it had given Trailblaze Brave wings was not so Capy Baba could step forward and take the lead in battle.
What it had done was just like the star rail navigation charts it had left behind—long-lasting and far-reaching.
It was giving others a better way to bring their power to bear.
For example, after flying into the sky, the feet that had originally been used only for movement could finally come into play!
"Next up, me and Granholm!"
Falcon and Granholm had each chosen the nodes in both legs.
This suited the two of them perfectly. When they met someone in trouble, they would take the initiative to help, willing to serve as their final support.
That was why they had chosen Trailblaze Brave's most important, and also most nameless and unglamorous, legs.
However, with Capy Baba's help, Trailblaze Brave's legs were also successfully freed!
"Put something good on our legs!"
Granholm called out to Sora.
Naturally, Sora would not refuse their request. "Catch!"
'[TENLINER! RAINBOW BEETLX! GOTCHANKO]!'
And so, one of Trailblaze Brave's legs was armored like a solid fortress, while the other bore the red horn of a beetle.
"Roll down from the sky!"
[DO NOT JOKE. THE ONES WHO WILL FALL ARE YOU!]
Facing the attacking Trailblaze Brave, how could DESTRUDOS possibly retreat?
Although the TWENTY-FOUR MOMENTS operating behind THEM had shown a slight delay because of the punch just now, as long as they were operated properly, the impact could be reduced to the minimum!
So in the face of the other party's attack, the smiling face, which had the calmest state of mind, suddenly lit up.
For the calmest one among THEM to operate this was the most correct choice.
And the smiling face did not disappoint THEM. Under THEIR steady operation, two rays of light immediately flashed upon the MOMENTS OF LIFE.
LIFE-MOMENT EQUILBRIUM TUNE
LIFE-MOMENT ABUNDANCE TUNE
Complicated, tangled plants spread from the void, blocking DESTRUDOS's front.
The power of EQUILIBRIUM was dynamically adjusting this object's defense.
Such defense could almost be called top-tier in the universe.
The regeneration of ABUNDANCE and the dynamic EQUILIBRIUM, once added together, created a defense that was nearly impossible to break.
DESTRUDOS's smiling face thought so, and so THEY did exactly that.
Then...
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Trailblaze Brave, falling toward DESTRUDOS, encountered this defense and immediately began swinging both feet nonstop.
Its feet alternated rapidly, leaving mark after mark on the defense.
But the fortress on its left foot possessed overwhelming firepower and iron-wall defense. Nothing could approach it!
And the right foot possessed unmatched monstrous strength. Its power was endless, and its existence was for the sake of using that power to pin its opponent down!
The defense created by combining ABUNDANCE and EQUILIBRIUM was very strong.
Against near-endless firepower and a beetle whose strength surged with every step, it could indeed barely hold on.
But... the current ORDER was not in a perfect state.
Although the smiling face's operation could reduce the impact to its weakest, it could not completely erase the effect brought by that previous punch.
So under repeated, uninterrupted attacks, the defense stacked from ABUNDANCE and EQUILIBRIUM was still broken!
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
Plant fibers broke one after another in the sky. The dynamic adjustment of EQUILIBRIUM could not make plants that had already broken regenerate.
Trailblaze Brave successfully broke through the defense. Its continuously alternating feet broke through the other party's defense just like that!
[IS THIS CAUSALITY?]
The smiling face seemed very calm.
THEY did not seem surprised by this result at all.
If that punch had not landed just now, THEY truly could have perfectly defended against this wave of attacks.
But there were no ifs now.
Every sip, every peck—each cause carried its effect.
When the other party threw that punch at the time, the occurrence of this matter had already been decided.
As the god of ORDER, THEY had long since anticipated such things.
[HOW MOV...]
Before DESTRUDOS could finish speaking, the endlessly alternating feet kicked straight onto THEIR body.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
One kick after another alternated, sending out heavy echoes.
At the same time, that tremendous power also caused DESTRUDOS's body to fall from the sky.
The god who had always resided above the clouds finally fell from the heavens under Trailblaze Brave's cooperation.
THEY crashed into Penacony, smashing countless buildings. Dust from the collapsing structures spread and swallowed THEIR figure.
Only after Trailblaze Brave stopped did the dust slowly disperse.
However, what no one had expected was...
"THEY—THEY don't have a scratch?!"
March 7th covered her mouth in shock.
Because after the dust dispersed, DESTRUDOS showed no change at all.
One could say that, aside from falling from the sky to the ground, this fellow was no different from before.
"That's not right!"
March 7th found it hard to accept.
They had kicked THEM so many times just now, so why was there not even a single footprint left on THEM?
"Oh? Now this is interesting."
When "Touslehead" Bob saw this situation, his spirits lifted.
It seemed this fellow was not that simple to defeat after all.
But to say that there had been no effect at all would naturally be false.
For example, DESTRUDOS, who had risen from the dust, did not fly into the sky again at this moment.
The smiling face looked at Trailblaze Brave and spoke.
[I WAS JUST THINKING.]
The very first words THEY spoke made some people feel confused.
"Thinking? Thinking about what?"
Dan Heng frowned, puzzled by DESTRUDOS's words.
[THINKING ABOUT WHY WE HAVE FALLEN INTO SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES.]
The current situation could be called a complete reversal.
Standing upon the ground, DESTRUDOS looked at Trailblaze Brave in the sky.
If this had been earlier, who would have dared imagine it?
One had to know that March 7th had already felt that everything was over before.
Who could have imagined that, after not much time had passed, this matter would undergo a complete reversal?
And after the god was pulled down from the sky, THEY finally began to think.
Although THEY had thought while falling from the sky, in reality, only a fleeting instant had passed.
A god's speed of thought was not something living beings could compare to. If THEY wished to know the countless truths of the universe, THEY needed only a thought..
Was the Astral Express the cause that had made DESTRUDOS fall into the current situation?
No.
Although the Astral Express was important, it was not necessary.
One could say that it was the result that led to this scene, but not the cause of this matter.
And from beginning to end, there was only one cause of this matter.
[HOSHIGAKI SORA. YOU, A CREATURE OF MORTAL FLESH, WHO SUDDENLY APPEARED AT THE END OF THIS ERA AS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND IT.]
Although THEIR impatience toward Sora had already reached its peak,
after thinking, DESTRUDOS had reached this conclusion.
He was the necessary cause that had made THEM fall from the sky.
But if that was all, it still seemed somewhat wrong...
[WHY YOU? WHY ALL OF YOU?]
"Do you even need to think about that...?"
Sora immediately began to answer, but DESTRUDOS raised a hand and stopped him.
[LANGUAGE IS MERELY A MEDIUM LIVING BEINGS USE TO SPREAD AND INHERIT KNOWLEDGE.]
As a god, THEY did not need such things.
[IN THIS MATTER, IT MAY BE BETTER TO USE THE METHOD BY WHICH YOU ONCE DEFEATED THAT PREVIOUS FAILURE.]
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With DESTRUDOS's words, the metal wings behind THEM rang with a sonorous sound.
They flew, assembled, twisted together, and fused into a slender long staff.
Golden patterns shimmered upon the staff, making it look incomparably noble.
Anyone who saw this thing would feel that it should be a staff used to conduct rituals.
Yet DESTRUDOS gripped the long staff with the four hands on THEIR body.
[PERHAPS THIS METHOD YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH WILL MAKE IT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND...]
At this moment, the atmosphere on the battlefield sank somewhat into silence.
No one had expected that after DESTRUDOS was dragged down from the sky, such a thing would happen.
"Has this guy gone crazy?"
Why had THEY suddenly decided to engage in close combat?
Forget March 7th; even Himeko found it somewhat difficult to understand.
[THIS IS MERELY THE NATURAL CHOICE OF THE CAUSE THAT BROUGHT ABOUT OUR BIRTH.]
Yet what March 7th did not expect was that the other party actually answered her question.
What was the thing that had brought about DESTRUDOS's birth?
It was the death instinct born when people died or hovered near death on Penacony.
Death instinct could also fill living beings with aggression toward external things and lead to all kinds of chaos.
Therefore, before death instinct returned to STILLNESS, its manifestation was in fact struggle.
Now, because of the effect of Trailblaze Brave's punch, a flaw had appeared in the land of STILLNESS, making DESTRUDOS's STILLNESS no longer perfect.
Then THEY would naturally also return from death instinct's state of STILLNESS to its essence of struggle.
And this was likewise something DESTRUDOS had seen when THEY had just swept across the universe.
The cause that had led THEM to become what THEY were now—Sora—had once been like this too.
He had once fought many living beings in the universe, and he had also fought those existences high above.
Struggle had brought him here. Then DESTRUDOS naturally would not let this opportunity pass either.
Under the pull of death instinct, struggle would come again.
Faced with DESTRUDOS's question, Sora's choice was, of course...
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Several bullets immediately shot toward DESTRUDOS's most vulnerable-looking points.
"My lord! Times have changed!"
Please. Did THEY really think that just because DESTRUDOS had taken a stance, Sora had to respond head-on?
There was no such logic.
To Sora, no matter what the other party said, THEY should not continue existing!
Not to mention THEY had caused him so much trouble before. That was not something one or two sentences could resolve!
"So, you bastard, hurry up and disappear!"
Sora called on the Navigators of past generations to launch an all-out attack on DESTRUDOS.
Right now, they had air superiority, while DESTRUDOS could only take a beating on the ground.
Kick THEM while THEY were down. Let the other party know how strong they were!
"Hahahaha! I like your personality!"
After hearing Sora's decision, Sam-3000 immediately let out a hearty laugh.
"When this is over, I'm going to have a proper arm-wrestling match with you!"
Even if she had come to an unknown time, she still wanted to compete with others!
As for now...
She would use this UFO-X-charged fist to give the enemy before her a proper greeting!
Oakley did not say anything, but judging by how she directly acted according to Sora's instructions, she did not need to say anything.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak~" (I'm only looking forward to when the concert starts.)
That was Capy Baba for you.
As for Falcon and Granholm, there was even less need to mention them...
"There are still many people here who need our help. How could we possibly turn a blind eye?"
"Don't look at me as some old fossil. My hands and feet aren't any slower than you youngsters'!"
Falcon said as much.
"Ah~ These guys, honestly."
"Touslehead" Bob sighed helplessly, his gaze shifting to Isee behind him, who was likewise coordinating his body.
"What about you?"
Isee paused slightly, but very quickly transmitted a wave of emotion.
He wanted to witness the end of this matter together with the Navigators of every era.
Because to him, everyone doing something together was undoubtedly something that made him feel deeply comforted.
Isee came from the harshest era. At that time, many Nameless had left the train, and there were also Trailblazing groups who turned against one another.
Under such circumstances, he had barely maintained the connections between worlds.
During that long solitary voyage, the Astral Express's crew had once been reduced to only him and one other person.
So what lay before his eyes now was something he had longed for, yet could never reach.
"I want to witness all of this, and I want to remember all of this. I don't want these things to vanish with the wind."
This was his responsibility as a Navigator of the Astral Express.
Bob raised a brow, seeming to understand something.
"In that case, I can't slack off either!"
Bob's expression lost its earlier laziness. He stretched, twisted his neck, and made a series of crisp cracking sounds with his body.
When he opened his eyes again, his entire expression had already become filled with aggression.
No matter what, he had once been a member of a criminal organization renowned throughout the universe. Although he had become a Navigator, he had not forgotten the skills of his past.
Now that he had a friend who wanted to see all of this, what reason did he have not to give it his all?
"Hope you make me look handsome when the time comes!"
He blew at his hair, making himself look extremely dashing.
And as everyone united as one, Trailblaze Brave's attacks also began to grow even sharper.
At range, Oakley's marksmanship kept the pressure on. Up close, two indestructible, tremendously powerful feet battered DESTRUDOS without pause.
From time to time, Sam-3000 would also punch the other party, scattering a burst of dazzling light-rain.
Simply put, this was nearly perfect coordination.
This was something unique in the entire history of the Astral Express, and also proof that those who had once accompanied this train were fighting together.
Their figures spread across the past and extended into the future.
And all of this was reflected in Pom-Pom's gaze, as well as in the eyes of that pink-haired songstress.
Only the pink-haired songstress wore a somewhat different expression.
Perhaps for someone whose music could make even AKIVILI return to listen, these stories might remain forever in her songs.
Or perhaps they would be conveyed to some unknown fellow...
Who could say?
After all, she was also one of the perpetrators now.
What, you ask where she was?
Hmph!
I wonder if you have ever heard this.
"A true hero kills with their eyes."
That was right. Trailblaze Brave's head was not just decoration. This part could fire lasers!
And so, with the combined assistance of all the Navigators...
Look, high above faraway Penacony—something terrible is happening!
The revived AEON of ORDER is being beaten one-sidedly.
How truly horrifying!
---
T/N: OKAY KARNA??? A TRUE HERO KILLS WITH THEIR EYES?
OKAY CHAPTER ORDER FIXED!! ADDED THE SKIPPED OVER CHAPTER 308
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