Everyone knew that the entire universe existed within the framework of the Imaginary.
The power of the Paths itself was sustained by Imaginary energy.
Dr. Chadwick had devoted his entire life, together with his research team, to developing the Imaginary Implosion Pulse.
Yet, at the final moment, he chose to stop.
Because he realized the technology was nothing less than Pandora's Box.
That so-called "field test" had accomplished far more than anyone publicly admitted.
First, it annihilated a Class-D civilization and its inhabited world.
But that wasn't all.
It also destroyed more than twenty-four surrounding celestial bodies.
Nor was that the true extent of its devastation.
Everything within the weapon's calculated area of effect had been wiped away.
The real target had never been a handful of planets.
It had been an entire star system.
Those unfortunate worlds simply happened to lie within the blast radius.
From the moment it was conceived, the Imaginary Implosion Pulse had never been a planetary weapon.
It was a weapon designed to erase entire regions of space.
As far as Evan knew, even among the Lord Ravagers of the Antimatter Legion, only beings capable of destroying star systems possessed comparable destructive power.
Whether the two truly stood on equal footing depended entirely on one factor—
The amount of Imaginary energy supplied to the weapon.
If he reconstructed it himself...
Using the Authority of Reason...
Its output would undoubtedly reach the level of an Emanator.
As for how much of a star field it could actually erase...
Even Evan couldn't say with certainty.
Silently, he stored the complete technology deep within his mind.
Then he pressed the switch.
"Goodbye."
"We never had the chance to meet..."
"But you're still my senior."
"Dr. Calderon Chadwick."
Screwllum slowly stepped forward.
He didn't say a single word.
He simply gazed quietly at the scene before him.
As the machine's final hum faded away, the room itself seemed to fall into silence.
Throughout more than a century...
Screwllum had only met Chadwick three times.
Just like most members of the Genius Society.
Geniuses were, by nature, solitary.
The fact that Herta, Ruan Mei, Screwllum, and the others could occasionally gather together was already incredibly rare.
Ruan Mei even maintained a laboratory aboard the station.
That alone was almost unheard of.
Yet despite their few meetings...
The bond between Screwllum and Chadwick could still be called friendship.
Although...
Their encounters had never been particularly pleasant.
According to Screwllum's calculations...
Chadwick had possessed the potential to save countless lives.
Instead...
He had stubbornly walked another path.
Now...
There was nothing left to change.
The genius had departed.
All they could do was wait for Nous, the Aeon of Erudition, to cast Its gaze upon another soul worthy of becoming the next Chadwick.
Screwllum's eyes slowly shifted toward Evan.
Stepping beside the life-support device, he quietly pressed the second release switch.
The fragment of Chadwick's preserved memoria shrank even further.
Herta silently stared at the fading cluster of memories.
Her expression grew unusually complicated.
As much as she disliked admitting it...
Even she had to acknowledge the truth.
Calderon Chadwick had been a genuine genius.
Research into Imaginary energy had continued throughout the universe for centuries.
Yet Chadwick's understanding of Imaginary applications had reached heights entirely beyond his era.
Even Herta herself had benefited from his published theories more than once.
She had spent her entire life proud...
Arrogant...
Confident in her own brilliance.
Yet before this elderly professor...
This doctor...
She could only feel admiration.
After all—
Herta herself was one of the few confirmed Emanators of Erudition within the Genius Society.
At a remarkably young age, she had solved the Isolated Wave Algorithm, then developed the technology that restored her body to its youthful form.
And yet...
Even someone like Chadwick had ultimately been swept away by the tides of history.
The Interastral Peace Corporation...
Even Herta found herself unable to openly condemn it.
The IPC monopolized commerce across the known universe.
Its influence reached even the Genius Society.
But at the same time...
After the fall of Ena, it had also established a new order throughout the cosmos.
Unless a new order one day emerged...
The Aeon of Equilibrium would never allow the universe to descend into complete chaos.
"Chadwick..."
"You can finally rest now."
Herta slowly placed her hand upon the final switch.
Click.
The life-support system fell completely silent.
"It feels... kind of sad."
"Yeah..."
"I never expected that old man to really be such an incredible genius."
"I kind of want to punch the IPC now."
"...Though Asta technically works for them."
"Hmph! Then I'll go find Asta later!"
"I'll eat her food!"
"Drink her drinks!"
"And even sleep in her bed!"
"H-Hey!"
"March!"
"Quit tickling me!"
The office had been wrapped in heavy silence only moments before.
Yet March 7th and Stelle's usual antics instantly brought life back into the room.
"I never thought..."
"I'd one day be attending the farewell of another member of the Genius Society."
"...Feels strangely surreal."
Herta rubbed her chin while looking at the now-dark machine.
The device had shut down completely.
Chadwick's long journey had finally come to an end.
"...For the Chadwick of his later years..."
"This ending was probably the greatest luxury he could have hoped for."
"What a pity..."
"If only..."
"He'd realized all this two Amber Eras earlier..."
Before Herta could finish speaking—
A frail, aged voice suddenly echoed through the room.
"Herta..."
"...Miss Herta..."
"...Come..."
"...Closer..."
Herta jumped in fright.
"W-Did you hear that?"
"D-Don't tell me it's a ghost!"
Evan couldn't help laughing.
"A mighty Emanator..."
"...Afraid of ghosts?"
"I've never seen you scared of the Wubbaboos."
"You're hopeless, Shorty."
"Pah!"
"Who's short?!"
"Your whole family's short!"
Screwllum calmly analyzed the phenomenon.
"I believe..."
"That is not a ghost."
"It is the final remnant of Dr. Chadwick's preserved memoria."
"Chadwick's consciousness?"
"Herta..."
"...Come..."
"...Closer..."
The voice appeared once again.
This time...
Even weaker than before.
Without hesitation, Herta leaned closer.
Then—
Chadwick's final words reached only her ears.
There was no surprise.
He had chosen to entrust everything—
His lifelong research.
His accumulated knowledge.
His theories.
His dreams for the future—
All of it...
To Herta.
"My memoria..."
"...is fading..."
"...Please..."
"...Come closer..."
As Herta's puppet approached the tiny violet memory bubble—
It burst apart instantly.
Exactly like the purple memory bubbles scattered throughout the Herta Space Station.
A torrent of memories surged directly into Herta's consciousness.
Only a few seconds later...
The final fragment of Chadwick's memoria disappeared forever.
Before leaving this world...
The old genius had entrusted every piece of knowledge he possessed to Herta—
A fellow genius he had never once met in person...
Yet one whose name had long echoed across the universe.
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