Sunday and Robin left. The two of them still had a lot to deal with next, and only after the Charmony Festival was over would things finally ease up.
Koji went back to find Lumine and the others. Penacony's affairs didn't really have much to do with them—if you went by what Zhongli, that old man, said, they were just here as witnesses.
"Mei, do you want to shake off Nihility's influence?" Koji asked seriously.
Across the entire cosmos, there weren't many ways to resolve Nihility's influence. The power of Elation should be able to dispel part of that Nihility power.
But someone like Acheron—an Emanator-level figure steeped in Nihility—was contaminated by far too much of it. Even an Emanator-level Masked Fool couldn't do it. Even if Aha personally showed up, it probably still wouldn't be possible to fix it without hurting Acheron in the process.
"Can Nihility's influence… really be removed?" Acheron sounded doubtful.
An ordinary Self-Annihilator wasn't tainted by all that much Nihility, but she was different. She possessed Emanator-level combat power—so you could imagine just how dense and abyssal the "nothingness" clinging to her had become.
"Nihility's influence can also be called a kind of negative effect," Koji said. "I've got a blessing that can cleanse negative effects."
"I want to ask—if you cleanse this so-called Nihility negative effect, will I become an ordinary person?"
Acheron didn't really care about herself. When Izumo was swallowed by Nihility, she could practically be said to have already died. The only thing keeping her moving was the obsession of cutting down Nihility on the horizon where existence still remained.
If she lost all her power, then she wouldn't be able to do anything at all.
"No. Your power won't be affected," Koji said firmly. "It'll only remove the side effects of that power."
That way, Acheron could use Nihility's power freely—without question, the strongest beneath the Aeons.
"Even if Polka Kakamon showed up, she'd still have to step aside."
"If it's not too much trouble… then I'll be in your care," Acheron said, nodding. If she could keep her power, of course she was happy to accept.
Koji directly sent a strand of blessing into Acheron's body.
Almost instantly, Acheron felt the change.
Her memories stopped slipping away. Her senses returned. Now, at the very least, she shouldn't get lost anymore.
Then, a hollow, ethereal girl's voice rang out:
"An immeasurable chaotic variable detected. Purge begins. The 'Omniscient Domain' unfolds for you."
Koji heard it and thought, So Polka really has something up her sleeve. Just saying her name and she can sense it—cause-and-effect perception, huh?
A special domain formed. A torrent of information surged. Within this domain, probability and coincidence meant nothing.
A candy-colored killer quietly appeared. Her face was shattered—her true features couldn't be seen. A razor-sharp surgical scalpel glinted with cold light, as if it could excise anything in this world.
The Silent Lord Polka Kakamon—also known as the Genius Killer. Countless geniuses had died by her hand.
"Silent Lord, are you sure we need to run?" Koji smiled.
He'd called this Silent Lord by name. She'd been drawn to him, which was why she hadn't sensed Acheron's presence in advance.
"In the Omniscient Domain, you cannot escape calamity," Polka Kakamon said, calm and confident.
The geniuses she had killed hadn't been ordinary either—yet she had still slaughtered them with her own hands.
"I'll handle it," Acheron said, stepping forward.
Koji had just helped her regain the senses she once had. Now it was her turn to offer what little help she could.
Her purple hair turned white—yet there were no bloody tears. That was simply the visual effect of her using Nihility's power.
The horizon of existence unfolded, dragging the narrow Omniscient Domain into it.
It wasn't only Elation's chaos that could break the Omniscient Domain. Nihility could do it too—and the effect was even better than Elation.
Within Nihility's domain, nothing had meaning.
Everything would return to nothing.
"You're… an Emanator who should not exist?" Polka Kakamon's voice finally changed.
Only now did she recognize Acheron's identity, and realize something was wrong.
Even someone as detached as her felt a very real, heavy threat.
Nihility wasn't supposed to have Emanators—but if someone walked far enough beneath Nihility's shadow, and obtained power comparable to an Emanator, then calling them a Nihility Emanator wasn't wrong either.
Aside from the Aeons themselves, a powerhouse like that was the most troublesome kind you could possibly run into across the cosmos.
Nihility was the opposite of existence. That was why IX was widely acknowledged as the strongest Aeon.
To gain power comparable to an Emanator under Nihility's influence was proof enough of how special Acheron was.
Other Emanators were limited by how much power their Aeon granted them. But Nihility didn't care. It wouldn't actively grant Self-Annihilators power. How much you could take depended entirely on your own capability.
In theory, as long as you could endure it—even power comparable to an ordinary Aeon was possible.
This couldn't be fought.
There was no way.
Polka Kakamon's own strength wasn't weak, but she relied far more on the Omniscient Domain.
Now, Nihility's unreasonable corrosion had directly rendered the Omniscient Domain useless. And Acheron looked like the kind of Emanator who could cleave her apart with a single strike.
"I weep for the departed—my tears fall like rain, seeking the full crossing…."
Acheron began to cry. Clear tears—no longer bloody—slid down from the corners of her eyes. Between heaven and earth, only black and white remained.
"…like tides that surge to take you home."
From Polka Kakamon, Acheron sensed the aura of many innocent, wronged souls.
This was someone who wouldn't care how many had to die as long as she achieved her goal.
So Acheron showed no mercy.
A hiss—
A crimson blade-light saturated with dense Nihility burst forth, instantly swallowing the Silent Lord.
Nous, Aeon of Erudition, cast a glance this way—
and it still didn't matter.
The present Acheron could mobilize Nihility power comparable to an ordinary Aeon. Polka Kakamon was doomed.
If Nous dared to interfere, Acheron would dare to swing her blade.
Even Nous surely wouldn't want to touch something as densely saturated with Nihility as that.
Besides—
Koji's hand was already resting on the hilt at his waist.
The divine sword, Dawn, was ready to leave its sheath at any moment.
The renowned Silent Lord fell—
cut down by Acheron in a single slash.
Polka Kakamon was powerful, and the Omniscient Domain was difficult to deal with—but Acheron was her natural bane. Nihility's power directly corroded all traces of existence.
"Haa…."
White hair returned to long purple hair.
Acheron let out a long breath. It had been a long time since she used power at this level. Even though it no longer harmed her body, she still wasn't used to it.
"Tch, tch, tch… Polka Kakamon really was unlucky," Koji said.
There were very few people who could kill Polka with certainty. Polka was among the very top tier beneath the Aeons. When opponents were close in strength and methods, the only way to lose this hard was to meet a perfect counter.
"She's dead… I feel like I've heard of her before," Acheron said after thinking for a moment, but she still couldn't recall.
After all, nobody dared to mention Polka Kakamon directly—afraid she'd trace them back along the chain of causality. So whenever people spoke of her, they did it obliquely. Naturally, Acheron couldn't retain it.
Koji nodded. Then he restored the damaged area.
No aura leaked out—he had blocked it all.
(End of Chapter)
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