Beyond the Asdana star system...
A colossal figure slowly emerged from the depths of the cosmos.
Its body was composed of countless masks layered upon one another.
Apart from an eerie burst of laughter...
No one could glimpse Its true appearance.
Yet that single laugh alone was enough to draw the attention of countless beings.
It was Aha.
The Aeon of Elation.
What is Elation?
What is the true essence of joy?
Long ago, Aha climbed to the highest branch of the Tree of Existence.
Gazing upon the cold, lonely universe, They found only disappointment.
Then...
A baby's cry echoed through the void.
And Aha burst into uncontrollable laughter.
The laws of the universe were magnificent beyond imagination...
Yet they were nothing more than lifeless rules.
Life, fragile as a reed...
Still possessed the ability to laugh in defiance of an unfair and merciless world.
No matter how mighty an Aeon might be...
They were ultimately slaves to Their own Path.
But life should never be confined like that.
Even without the immortality of Abundance...
The obsession of The Hunt...
The steadfastness of Preservation...
The courage of Trailblaze...
Or even Erudition, Harmony, or Destruction...
Every life should still remain unique.
No single Path should dictate how a life must be lived.
That was why...
Aha mocked every Aeon equally.
Aha had arrived.
Outside the dreamscape...
An Aeon revealed Their form.
Brilliant rainbow-colored light spread across the world woven from memoria.
At the very center stood a white-haired woman possessing three entirely different faces.
Radiant Harmony enveloped Her body.
Her form appeared like countless puzzle pieces fitted together.
Suspended amidst the stars.
Anyone from the Family would immediately recognize Her.
Their god.
The Aeon of Harmony—
Xipe.
At this moment...
Xipe's divine radiance blanketed the skies above Penacony.
Her closed eyes slowly opened.
She gazed toward the approaching Aeon of Elation.
"Aha."
"Why does your Elation trespass upon My world?"
Xipe was known as the Thousand-Faced One.
Even Aha's endless masks couldn't compare to Her countless faces.
"Elation exists everywhere in the universe."
"There's something amusing happening in your territory."
"So naturally..."
"I came to watch."
"Besides..."
"I've met an old friend from many eras ago."
"What?"
"Are you going to stop Me?"
Aha mocked every Aeon equally.
Including Themself.
Their face remained hidden beneath endless masks.
No emotion could be discerned.
Xipe remained silent.
She embraced all things.
Even if Aha's laughter offended Her...
She could still tolerate it.
After a moment...
She lowered Her gaze toward the dream below.
Then...
The faint smile on Her lips slowly disappeared.
"Akivili's blessing..."
"Nous' blessing..."
"Fuli's blessing..."
"This mortal possesses blessings from all three?"
"What makes this individual so extraordinary?"
For the first time...
Xipe had witnessed a mortal carrying blessings from three old acquaintances simultaneously.
Even She found it astonishing.
Her voice carried unmistakable surprise.
I...
Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony...
Had never before seen a mortal bearing three different blessings.
She couldn't even determine which Aeon had bestowed Their blessing first.
Did the later Aeons not realize...
That multiple Paths within a single mortal body could easily spiral out of control?
Especially incompatible Paths.
In severe cases...
The mortal could simply explode.
"Hehe."
"I'm not telling."
Xipe fell silent.
Among all the Aeons...
Only Aha still behaved almost like a human.
Most Aeons had long since become embodiments of universal laws.
They had either walked a Path to its absolute limit...
Or ascended by creating an entirely new one.
Aha, however...
Had criticized every Aeon.
Without exception.
Even Themself.
"Hey, Xipe."
"Ena's remnants are about to awaken inside your territory."
"And you're not doing anything?"
"You're far too amusing."
"..."
Xipe looked at the masked trickster speechlessly.
Then She expanded Her divine domain.
Harmony was everywhere.
She descended equally upon every believer.
Her Path differed completely from Aha's.
So did Their ideals.
Besides...
The Aeons rarely fought one another.
After all...
None of Them casually sought conflict.
The fallen Aeons thus far...
Had perished because of Their own Paths.
The fall of Long had little to do with the births of Yaoshi or Tayzzyronth.
Likewise...
The birth of Propagation had occurred because of plans involving several Aeons.
Xipe said nothing more.
Rainbow-colored light shimmered across Penacony's sky.
An odd burst of laughter echoed throughout all Twelve Dreamscapes.
Even the seven-colored radiance could not suppress Elation's laughter.
The Mother of the Stars dissolved back into countless fragments.
Her body itself had always been composed of innumerable stellar pieces.
Harmony represented unity.
Every member of the Family could become part of Her.
And She could descend through any of Their countless faces whenever She wished.
Before disappearing...
Xipe's gaze lingered briefly upon the young man carrying three different blessings.
Confusion.
Curiosity.
Even the faintest hint of amusement.
Then...
She vanished.
Within the Dewlight Pavilion...
Sparkle stood completely dumbfounded.
Just now...
Her mask had nearly flown off her face on its own.
"...Wait."
"The Elation really came?"
Her expression became rather complicated.
At that same moment...
After Evan stored the Fragment of Order inside his inventory...
The mask he'd collected long ago suddenly erupted with an overwhelming surge of Path energy.
It flew straight out of storage.
"Hehehehehe!"
"Wuwuwuwu!"
"Hehehe!"
"Hahahaha!"
Joyful laughter.
Sorrowful sobbing.
Playful giggles.
Dozens of different emotions echoed simultaneously.
For a brief instant...
Evan saw countless masks of every imaginable shape bursting forth from the artifact.
They shot directly toward his forehead.
Then...
He vaguely caught sight of an Aeon composed entirely of masks standing before him.
A strange voice echoed inside his mind.
"What are you doing?"
Akivili asked curiously.
"You were already planning to blow up the Express."
"And you still left your own mark behind?"
"That's not very entertaining."
"I'm looking for fun."
"So tell Me..."
"Who's the Aeon of Elation here?"
"Why do you seem even more entertaining than I am?"
"So it really was you!"
"You're the phantom I saw aboard the Express!"
"Akivili never would've expected this!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Looks like I'm the true Trailblaze Emanator!"
"Poor Akivili couldn't even blaze a trail toward Their own future!"
"Hehehe!"
"Kid..."
"How about accepting My power?"
"..."
Evan blinked.
This Aeon...
Was completely different from every other Aeon he'd encountered.
When Nous blessed him...
It was out of curiosity.
His Authority of Reason resembled an almost limitless "if I understand it, I can build it" ability.
When Qlipoth acknowledged him...
The Aeon had merely wondered why summoning one Stellaron vessel had somehow produced two people instead.
Still...
Since Evan truly had protected Jarilo-VI from the Stellaron...
Qlipoth granted him a small portion of Preservation.
Enough to set him upon that Path.
As for Fuli...
Even now Evan had no idea why the Aeon had chosen him as an Emanator of Remembrance.
Yet now...
Aha's arrival left him utterly speechless.
Only after listening to the exchange between Aha and Akivili did he finally understand.
It had all started...
With this mask.
The one he'd obtained aboard the Astral Express after leaving Jarilo-VI.
It truly had been left behind by Aha.
Across time and space...
The Aeon had deliberately left a treasure for whoever came afterward.
"So..."
"I've really received the blessing of Elation?"
"Does that make me a Masked Fool now?"
Evan stared helplessly at the mask in his hand.
"My dear~"
"I knew it!"
"You really did receive a personal blessing from the Elation!"
Sparkle smiled sweetly while taking hold of Evan's hand.
She gently traced her fingers across his palm.
"The Tavern would absolutely love someone like you."
"So..."
"Won't you join us~?"
Watching Sparkle cling to him...
Firefly suddenly felt an inexplicable irritation.
That shameless little fox!
She'd only met Evan herself not long ago...
Yet seeing Sparkle act so intimately still made her grit her teeth.
Annoying.
So annoying!
Absolutely infuriating!
"Shh."
"We're working."
"Can't you see Mr. Gopher Wood is still watching us?"
"Go stand over there."
"Aww~"
Sparkle obediently stepped behind Evan without another word.
Meanwhile...
Evan casually tossed the mask back into his inventory.
Aha, who hadn't yet completely departed, froze for a brief moment.
Then burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Just as expected from someone I chose!"
"Kid!"
"If you weren't already Mine..."
"I'd have given you every Aeon's power!"
"What a pity."
"The last time I tried something like that..."
"...that bug died."
"I was sad for such a long, long time~"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Go."
"Have fun."
"Turn Xipe's precious little paradise completely upside down!"
"Oh!"
"And while you're at it..."
"Push that dead fellow's coffin back underground!"
The echo of the Aeon of Elation lingered in Evan's ears for a long while before finally fading away.
Evan could only wear an awkward expression.
Brother Aha...
Aren't you worried Xipe might actually beat you up?
Acting like this...
You're practically begging the other Aeons to gang up on you.
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