(T/N: Chinese player was calling Nanook 辣卤客/Spicy Braised Food, i don't really know how and why, but it might be because color and that big Slice.)
The next day, Dan Heng, playing a game of blind box, opened the door only to find that the person standing inside wasn't Aidan.
He was one hundred percent certain that this child was absolutely not him.
The light-brown-skinned youth in the room had a pair of golden eyes, a faint scar on his cheek, simple clothes, snow-white hair, and a very guarded expression.
"Aidan? Are you awake? Didn't we agree to go to the swimming pool today?...What's wrong, Dan Heng? Did he oversleep?"
"It's not oversleeping." Dan Heng's voice was somewhat solemn. "It's the wrong person."
"Huh? What do you mean 'wrong person'? Did he turn into a bug again? Or some weirdly shaped..."
The youth was staring at Dan Heng like a beast cub backed into a corner, ready to strike back at any moment.
"...Who are you?"
The youth only took half a step back, his spine pressing against the window sill, his golden eyes still fixed deathly on the person at the door.
"Where is Aidan?"
Still no answer.
"Whose kid is this?" March 7th looked at the youth, a bit dazed. "Did he turn into a kid?"
"Doesn't look like it." Dan Heng's reply was brief.
"Doesn't look like it?"
The youth did not respond.
"Are you Aidan?" March 7th tried to ask something useful.
Only silence.
"Where is Aidan?"
The answer to March 7th was still silence.
March 7th scratched her head and looked at Dan Heng somewhat helplessly.
"What should we do? He won't talk."
"No choice. Let's try to restrain him first and make him talk."
———
Aidan woke up.
The feeling of waking up this time was very strange.
There was no action of opening his eyes, because he felt as if he possessed an all-encompassing perspective. It was as if... the entire universe was under his gaze.
Immediately following that was an indescribable sense of weight and power.
He tried to raise his hand to rub his eyes.
"Rumble—"
With just an extremely tiny thought, the surrounding space was like glass hit by a heavy hammer, letting out a cracking sound of being overwhelmed. Ripples of golden energy spread outwards with him as the center, instantly annihilating several asteroid fragments floating nearby.
"?"
Aidan was stunned.
He looked down—if this shift in perspective could be called looking down—at himself.
Bronze skin, a body forged like stars, every inch of muscle fiber flowing with terrifying energy sufficient to destroy a galaxy.
At his chest, a massive golden crack slanted downwards, dripping golden divine blood.
His entire body was covered in golden wounds.
No, this wasn't his body.
"I've turned into Nanook?!"
Wait, bro!
I usually just talk big, how did I actually turn into Aeon!
The divinity of Destruction was constantly battering his consciousness; the desire for Destruction and his humanity were locked in a struggle.
That was the Primum Mobile of an Aeon, the rules of the Path. If he did not obey these rules, he might be consumed by the Path. But if he did obey... then he would become a true slaughtering machine.
Aeons indeed have the right to interpret their Path, but the problem was that Aidan wasn't Nanook; he had just logged into the account.
Then should I... go destroy?
After the thought of wanting to destroy arose, that sense of urgency indeed vanished.
Then if I destroy those pests, does that count as destruction?
No problem there.
However, he had to figure out why he turned out like this. Path switching had always been random, but such an absurd situation had never occurred. The Aeon of Destruction? This was no longer within the scope of normal Path switching; it was a direct jump to the pinnacle.
Unless...
He suddenly thought of a possibility.
Today is Destruction.
And he had become the Aeon of Destruction.
Then what about the original Aeon of Destruction? Where did he go?
If he occupied Nanook's shell, then Nanook's consciousness...
"No way."
But Aidan forcibly stopped his urge to peek.
Don't look at the Express.
Don't look at the Express.
Absolutely do not look at the Express.
If he took even one look at the Astral Express now, his massive Will of Destruction would follow his gaze and burn the Express along with the surrounding star systems to ash. Even if the Express didn't explode, countless Pathstriders of Destruction would charge over in a moment.
This feeling of suppression made the destructive impulse within him surge even higher. It felt as if a fire was burning in his chest, urging him to break something, to crush something. If he didn't vent it, he felt like he would explode—literally explode, like a supernova.
Since destruction was a necessity, he might as well broaden his horizons. Since he had to destroy anyway, he might as well destroy things that deserved it.
Soon, his perception locked onto a star sector.
Wow, there are even Incendiaries.
What are Incendiaries?
Incendiaries believe that genetic inertia constrains civilizational progress, so there must be someone hunting them from behind to provide the motivation for explosive advancement. Simply put, they are a bunch of lunatics acting under a noble banner.
"You guys it is."
Phew.
That's better.
But it was only temporary. The destructive impulse would soon return, and he needed more targets, more venting.
The problem was he couldn't look at the Express.
Couldn't think about it.
Couldn't have any thoughts pointing in that direction.
Because he didn't know if he would lose control at some moment and pour the Destruction through that connection.
"Tsk."
A bit troublesome.
Right now, I'm like the King of Hell checking his register.
Let's go for a stroll.
Aidan saw a very familiar goat head.
A goat head?
He thought for a while.
...Soul juice?
No, can't do that. That's [Elation] not [Destruction].
But this goat head... really looks a bit like...
But before he could think of anything else, that goat head cried out, practically weeping with joy.
Seemingly because he had looked at him.
Oh, right.
Aidan suddenly realized and finally remembered who this guy was.
Duke Inferno Ifrit, the leader of the Ever-Flame Mansion, a branch of the Annihilation Gang, and a loyal believer of Nanook. The fire demon race, who burn incessantly, regard Nanook as their Emperor and call him their benefactor, yet they have never received a glance from the Aeon.
But actually, how should Aidan put it.
True, the Annihilation Gang belongs to the Path of Destruction...
But... Their purity is too low.
In fact, if Ifrit stood among the Incendiaries, the Saviors, or the Star-Pickers, he'd look like a Buddha. However, Ifrit himself does have a bit of a martyr spirit and isn't just a hypocrite.
"Benefactor! The great Benefactor has finally shown pity to your believer!"
Ifrit was so excited his whole body was trembling—if flames could be said to tremble. That burning head of his was lowered in the most devout posture.
Aidan: "..."
No, I didn't glance at you. I was just seeing what consequences my gaze would cause.
He looked down at this excited fellow from above, his heart completely unmoved.
[Aeons are not fully driven by their Path; the protagonist isn't an Aeon, he just logged into the account...]