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Chapter 317 - Sparkle—Welcome to the Final Curtain of the Universe

"Time to wrap things up."

After putting away the Pseudo Star Map Creation, Aether returned to the forefront of the Star Rail Universe.

"Ninety-nine percent of the cleanup is done. The final one percent doesn't need me to lift a hand."

The entire universe had already been purged by the black beast tide, and the last remaining stain was only a single galaxy.

Moreover, the two who had just ascended to Aeons carried the aura of Teyvat—they were Aeons belonging to Teyvat.

The Aeons of Teyvat would inevitably obey the will of the Heavenly Principle, and would surely erase the last stain.

"Time to head back."

Aether exhaled slowly. This time, he had fought to his heart's content. Though he had fallen into disadvantage, he had truly experienced the extent of his full strength.

With his current power, even on foreign ground, so long as the enemies were not in overwhelming numbers, the best outcome for them would be a fifty-fifty split. If the opponents numbered fewer than ten, he could wear them down with time to claim victory. If they numbered fewer than five, he could directly annihilate a standard single-universe.

And that was a proper universe possessing Truth.

Of course, a universe with Truth was extremely difficult to truly destroy. Even if destroyed, upon its ruins, it would give birth to new universes once again.

That was the unimaginable nature of Truth.

And gods who had not grasped Truth itself were incapable of affecting it at all—unless the disparity between them was so great as to span entire tiers.

If he wanted to obtain a Truth of his own, then that Truth would have to be below the level of cosmic structure.

Yet even if he obtained such a Truth, it would not be of much use to him. He himself could not nurture it into a standard single-universe.

A non-standard universe was of little use to a god at cosmic level—at best it could be cultivated as a primordial universe. But as the sovereign of an Abyssal Universe, raising another primordial universe would be pointless.

Not everyone was like the Heavenly Principle, capable of fostering the growth of universes.

Thus, gaining a Truth would be less useful than directly contributing it to the Teyvat Universe. It might even feed back certain Laws to him.

Truths above single-universe level and below it were entirely different concepts.

For the world, single-universe level was like mortals ascending to godhood.

Aether came to the nearest World Gate in the Star Rail Universe.

The black beast tide was surging endlessly into the World Gate.

The entire universe had already been cleansed. With no more targets, the beast tide was returning the way it came. Among the waves of beasts, several Abyssal gods could be seen proudly striding.

The merits they had earned this time were unimaginable. At the very least, they could ascend one or two minor tiers. The exceptional ones might directly ascend a major tier.

Aether was more than satisfied.

By conquering a great universe this time, the Abyss as a whole would see a surge of mid-to-high level gods. At least two-digit numbers of Supreme Gods would arise, and no fewer than five Primordial Gods would be born.

At the very least, Rheinndottir, the Creator of Beasts, would surely become a Primordial God—perhaps even attain weak single-universe.

After all, in this conquest of an entire universe, the beast tide accounted for half the credit.

And the other half of the credit naturally belonged to him, since it was he who sealed and restrained all the top-tier combat power.

"At present, there's only the one Aeon who never made a move from start to finish."

At the World Gate, Aether turned back to glance.

In the deepest reaches of the universe, cloaked in the mists of nothingness, was a purple-black existence.

Its mere presence altered the orbit of hundreds of thousands of galaxies, and even affected the fabric of existence itself.

That was IX, the Aeon of Nihility—representing the void itself. No matter what disturbances shook the universe, it made no movement. Were it not for the existence of the Path of Nihility, almost no one could even perceive it.

It was as though it were merely an ordinary, dormant black hole.

IX was without doubt the mightiest Aeon. Even stripped of Laws, as the master of a Path, its strength had diminished by only thirty percent—unlike the other Aeons who had fallen by seventy percent or more.

After all, whether visible or invisible, whether existing or not existing, everything ultimately boiled down to two points: being and non-being.

Nihility represented the side of non-being, while every other Path was proof of being.

Yet even now, Nihility was not the ultimate nothingness, because the Aeon of Nihility itself still existed. Only when even it no longer existed would true Nihility come to be.

Aether stepped into the World Gate, accompanied by the retreat of the last waves of the black beast tide—though near Penacony, some remnants of the tide still lingered.

At this very moment, endless voices cheered the birth of the Aeon of Order.

The high-ranking figures of the great powers were utterly dumbfounded.

They had thought this was merely the legacy of an Aeon. None of them could have imagined it would bring about the birth of a new Aeon.

As for their own power being diminished, even the very energies of the universe falling into dormancy, they all attributed it to the power of the Aeon of Order.

The fall of a universe from the Imaginary Tree—such a macrocosmic phenomenon was far beyond the perception of the insignificant beings within a universe.

Even among the Aeons, only a select few could discern the truth.

"The Aeon of Order!"

"The Aeon of Order—!"

Sunday gazed upward. Thanks to the Aeon's power, he could clearly see the sight beyond the atmosphere: those pale violet wings vast enough to veil an entire star system, shielding the entirety of the planet Penacony.

The divine posture struck deep into the heart. At that moment, he could no longer connect the supreme existence before his eyes with the sister he had always known.

He could not help but murmur softly:

"Sister… Robin…"

At the same time, a manic, gleeful voice spread across the entire galaxu, faintly contending with the cheers of countless voices.

While all raised their eyes to behold the Aeon, one tiny figure, insignificant compared to the Aeon, laughed wildly.

"Hahahaha! Welcome, dear VIP guests, to the final act! Before all eyes, I shall become the last protagonist—and in this ultimate revelry, the final tragic curtain shall fall~"

Sparkle's manic and joyous voice rang out as she boldly stood at the most prominent place on Penacony. Her strange behavior and words left the leaders of the great powers utterly baffled.

Diamond said: "The Emanator of Elation… though Masked Fools always bring trouble, this time we really must thank her."

Dongfang Qixing nodded. "Indeed. If not for the Emanator of Elation rallying the voices of the entire galaxy, uniting everyone into a collective consciousness, it would not have been so easy for an Aeon to be born."

Louis Fleming was so excited he nearly went mad. "Our actions have given rise to an Aeon! Even if it was through the legacy of an Aeon, it's not much different from Zandar creating Nous, the Aeon of Erudition!"

Dr. Primitive adjusted his glasses. "Hehe, what a thrilling and record-worthy specimen."

Under the unified will of the Penacony Galaxy, Robin, who had now become the Aeon of Order, slowly opened her eyes.

Her Holy Body was now as vast as a star, and the spread of her wings could shelter every planet within the star system. The light of her Path extended for light-years.

Behind her head blazed a pure-white halo, and boundless power of the Path swiftly covered the entire universe.

The Path of Order, once torn apart and abandoned, now rekindled. Yet this Order was utterly different from Ena's Order.

Order was the law ensuring the universe's continuation, guiding it toward better operation, with the ultimate goal of reaching the good.

When anything defied that final goal of goodness, breaking the law, it became a parasite devouring Order.

Order was not meant to restrain civilizations and gods, but to draw boundaries, establish moral lines, and stabilize the anchors of civilization.

Where there was intelligent life, there would be communication. Where there was communication, there would be groups. Where there were groups, civilization would arise.

And where there was civilization, there would be disparity, trade, and much more.

Order's greatest role, apart from maintaining stability, was the manifestation of fairness.

As the Aeon of Order, Robin instantly perceived the state of the entire universe. Infinite information flooded into her cognition.

At the same time, she received the calls of the people of Penacony, every thought in their hearts, and the sins each one had committed in their lives.

Even having become an Aeon, she still felt suffocated by the weight of so many sins.

She could hardly imagine the evil deeds intelligent beings could commit.

No wonder… that even the Aeons of another universe could not bear to watch, and unleashed the black beast tide to cleanse the universe.

By now, aside from Penacony, the entire universe had been fully cleansed. Every galaxy's civilizations had been reduced to only their purest, brightest fragments.

Countless voices of kindness, countless hopes for the good—all fell upon her ears.

Yet compared to those kind voices, the frenzied celebrations of the people of Penacony, whose hearts were filled with desire and ugliness, seemed all the more ironic.

In that single instant, she had already made her decision.

The universe now resembled a newborn child, its civilizations pure and untainted. If she allowed the remnants of Penacony—those dregs filtered out by the beast tide—to return, how cruel would it be for those newborn civilizations?

"Forgive me."

With a mere thought, Robin sealed the entirety of Penacony Galaxy with the power of Order. Every lifeform was frozen in place.

The revelry, the madness, the frenzy—all fell silent in an instant.

No one, not even the Emanators, could resist it for even a single quark-second.

Their bodies could not move, yet their minds spun wildly.

What's happening?!

I can't move!

Why can't I move?!

The power of the Aeon of Order?!

Then, covering all of Penacony, came a voice—like a whisper from the universe itself. It was the voice of an Aeon.

[To prevent the cleansed universe from being polluted once more, you too must face the trial of the black beast tide, as all other worlds have.]

Upon hearing this voice, every person in Penacony froze in disbelief. The frenzy and ecstasy vanished instantly, replaced with sheer terror.

Before they could even react, the entire cosmic space of Penacony was dyed in black and violet.

The power of Order that had been suppressing the spread of the Abyss completely dissipated.

In preparation for clashing with the power of Order, the Abyss had long since amassed in Penacony far more strength than in any other galaxy.

The moment Order's power vanished, the Abyss rebounded with terrifying ferocity. In just two seconds, the vast galaxy was covered to every last corner.

Dongfang Qixing, Louis Fleming, Dr. Primitive, Diamond, and all the leaders of the factions turned pale with dread.

Before they could even react, the space around them fractured in bizarre patterns. From the cracks spewed purple-black, twisted energy.

From those rifts, abyssal beasts roared forth.

The rifts multiplied densely throughout the Penacony Galaxy—wherever living beings existed, a rift would surely appear.

In the blink of an eye, abyssal beasts surged like a tide, submerging every planet in the Penacony Galaxy.

Ahhhh—!

Help—!

Why is this happening—!

Ahhhh… Aeon of Order! Why—!

Robin!

Don't eat me—!

The Planet of Festivities fell into eerie silence. Other than the howls of the beast tide, no other sound remained.

Robin feared that the final chaos and panic might cause innocents to vanish along with the guilty, so she froze every living being entirely.

She let the beast tide directly cleanse the remnants of civilization.

Louis Fleming stared in despair at the gaping maw of a wolf-headed beast lunging at him. "Ahhhh—! Why is this happening! Why—!"

Before his inner cries could even finish, he was swallowed whole.

Dongfang Qixing, Diamond, and Dr. Primitive likewise perished beneath the abyssal beasts, their final thoughts filled with frantic questioning.

Amidst the roars of the tide, a manic, joyous voice rang out.

"Hahahaha… how is it, dear guests? Welcome to this grand finale stage play: The Savior Raised Up by Sinners Shall Ultimately Judge the Sinners! Hahaha!"

"And of course, the director is none other than I, Lady Sparkle of the Masked Fools!"

"What a delightful and joyous deception this is~"

Buzzzzz—

Sparkle, standing amidst the black beast tide like a grand director, received the hatred of those being devoured. At the same time, her body shone with light bright enough to illuminate the galaxy, piercing through the very laws of causality.

That light only grew brighter—until it blazed so intensely the entire galaxy could see it.

At that moment, Aha's mask appeared before Sparkle, and the very root of the Path of Elation revealed itself.

"Ahahaha… wonderful, wonderful! Aha finds this as brilliant as the Swarm Disaster I once joined in!"

"And now, at this final moment, Aha will not fall behind."

"The climax—the final climax! A new Aeon of Elation shall take the place of the old one~"

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