The boy's gaze fell upon his scarred palms.
"I remember now..."
"I was standing in the fire... I was..."
His voice grew increasingly angry, and his footsteps were as heavy as if he were dragging the weight of the entire world, leaving charred marks on the floor with every step. Those scars spread from his face to his neck, and then to his torso, with golden light seeping from the cracks, so scorching it made one's heart tremble.
"If life is only pain, then it would be better not to have it at all! If even the last bit of hope is... why, exactly... why were we born into this world!!!"
The moisture in the air evaporated in an instant, and the once comfortable Parlor Car now felt like a volcano about to erupt. The carpet on the floor curled and blackened, emitting a foul burnt smell, and even the air produced visible ripples of distortion due to the high temperature.
March 7th instinctively wanted to rush forward and grab him, but was forced back by a wave of heat. She raised her hand to shield her face; even from several meters away, that scorching breath still singed her skin with pain.
"Don't go over there! March!"
That wasn't ordinary fire; it was pure venting of energy, the most primal form of Destruction.
"Why... why must people like us exist..."
The boy continued to walk forward. With every step, the alloy floor beneath his feet made a tooth-grinding melting sound, leaving behind a deep footprint. Magma-like liquid flowed from his wounds, sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground, sizzling into white smoke.
"Mr. Yang! This kid is going to explode!" March 7th stomped her feet in anxiety. "Think of something! He's going to burn through the Astral Express!"
"I'm thinking!"
Welt slammed his cane onto the ground.
Gravity Suppression.
Then, his cane exploded.
This was even after Aidan had temporarily modified the Star of Eden for him; otherwise, it would have exploded even faster.
"Mr. Yang!"
Amidst March 7th's cry of alarm, Welt stumbled back two steps, fragments of the cane slipping through his fingers.
Nanook had already reached the center of the Parlor Car, but his footsteps suddenly stopped.
———
"Where the hell did I end up?"
Aidan scratched his head.
Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz...
A large number of swarm appeared behind Aidan.
Oh boy!
"Scared the life out of me! Guard! Protect the king!"
Aidan summoned the Cyan...
He couldn't summon it.
"Hyperion! Ai-chan!"
Hyperion did not appear.
What could be done then?
But it was not Aidan's humanity that opened its eyes again, but the divinity of the Path of Destruction.
The most fundamental essence of the Path of Destruction unfolded upon him, molten gold blood flowing through his body—infinite rage, infinite destruction. Burn, fuse, and then annihilate!
With his body as the center, a wave instantly swept through all the enemies.
It wasn't wind, it wasn't light; it was pure entropy increase, stepping from order into disorder.
"I come with the storm, bringing my wrath to the gods."
The moment swarm was annihilated, Aidan felt as if he were suddenly grabbed by an invisible giant hand and then thrown violently into a bottomless vortex.
When his consciousness reconsolidated, his surroundings were no longer that insect-filled star system.
Scorched earth.
Scorched earth stretched to the end of the horizon, and the sky was dark red, like a rag soaked in blood and then dried. The air was filled with the smell of ash, and every breath felt like swallowing knives.
"Cough, cough... what kind of hellhole is this..."
Aidan looked down at himself.
It was no longer that bronze Aeon body, but his original appearance. The clothes on his body had also reverted to ordinary casual wear, only covered in dust.
"Was I... kicked out?"
He tried moving his limbs and found he could, and he didn't have that urge to blow something up at any moment.
"Phew—finally back to normal."
But he soon realized something was wrong; this place was too quiet, so quiet it seemed as if the entire planet had no living creatures.
In the distance, a thin figure was squatting on the ground, with its back to him.
Aidan squinted his eyes to look. That back looked somewhat familiar—white hair, tattered clothes, and... golden cracks faintly visible on the shoulders.
"...No way, right?"
He carefully took a step forward, his foot making a rustling sound on the scorched earth.
That figure suddenly stood up and turned around—golden eyes, brownish-black skin, and a golden scar on the cheek. Aidan met those golden eyes, which churned with a violence unbefitting of his age.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
"...Who are you?"
The boy's voice was raspy.
"I am a Trailblazer."
"A Trailblazer? You're a Trailblazer? Then have you seen Akivili?"
Aidan was certain now; this was the consciousness of the Aeon of Destruction, or... perhaps just a Memory Echo of Destruction. But standing before him now was just a child covered in wounds, with hope still lingering in his eyes.
"Akivili..." Aidan replied, "I haven't seen him."
The light in the boy's eyes dimmed.
"However, I am a Trailblazer, and I've boarded the Astral Express."
Aidan thought for a moment.
"Here, this is for you."
"What is this?"
"A ticket," Aidan explained. "Once you're on the Astral Express, you're a Trailblazer. Being a Trailblazer means... well, following the Express everywhere, going to all sorts of places you've never been, and meeting all sorts of people you've never met."
"Everywhere?"
"Yes."
"Akivili..."
"Akivili is no longer here, but the Express is still running," Aidan stuffed the ticket into his hand. "It's people who Trailblaze, not Aeons. I don't think Akivili liked being seen as a god; he must have felt he was just a person. When I boarded the Express, Akivili had already been gone for a long time. The current Astral Express is managed by Conductor Pom-Pom and Navigator Himeko."
"Gone for... a long time?"
He repeated those words, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.
"So... did He still abandon us?"
"It wasn't abandonment."
Aidan interrupted him.
"He just... reached the end of the journey. Or rather, started a new one."
"I think... if Akivili could have come to Adlivun, everyone could have survived," the boy's voice grew softer and softer. "I've been waiting."
A gust of wind rose over the scorched earth, swirling ash and blowing it onto the two of them.
"How long have you been waiting?"
"I don't know," the boy shook his head. "A long time."
Aidan was silent for a few seconds, then reached out his hand.
"Then don't wait anymore. Let's go."
The boy looked at that hand, then at the ticket in his hand, and finally looked up.
"What is your name?"
"Aidan."