The cop's eyes never left the strange sight in the sky.
He could not see Aeon—not his form, not his presence—but he could see it.
A single 3D orb, levitating unnaturally behind an unseen force, shimmering faintly as gravity bent around it.
Confusion turned into panic.
And panic turned into instinct.
Gunfire erupted.
Bullets tore through the air, cracking the silence of the desert.
Aeon reacted instantly.
Before the projectiles could even reach the orb, Aeon shifted its dimensional state, forcing the 3D orb into the fourth dimension. The orb vanished from the cop's perception, slipping beyond visible reality.
The gunfire stopped.
The cop stared at empty sky, breath uneven, mind struggling to process what had just disappeared.
But Aeon froze.
Something was wrong.
He already carried a 4D orb.
Now, by converting the 3D orb into 4D, Aeon was in direct contact with two 4D objects simultaneously—through a single, unified consciousness.
For a fraction of a Supereon, nothing happened.
Then—
The Supereon flow around Aeon twisted violently.
Reality resisted him.
Before Aeon could react, his connection to Earto was severed.
The Black Expanse
Aeon felt himself being pulled—not through space, not through time, but out of existence itself.
When sensation returned, he stood nowhere.
No stars.
No void.
No dimensions.
Only black.
Not the black of space—but the black of absence. A place where even emptiness had been erased.
And before him stood Saturn.
Aeon could not feel his Supereons. Could not feel his body. Could not feel time.
Only Saturn.
Saturn:
"You move fast, kid."
Aeon tried to speak, but his voice trembled.
Aeon:
"My lord… what—"
Saturn raised a hand.
The universe obeyed.
From Aeon's consciousness, Saturn extracted the Crystalline Time Core itself—not violently, not forcefully, but with terrifying ease. The core floated between them, glowing softly in the endless dark.
Saturn touched it.
And the core unfolded.
Time fractured outward, forming a living timeline of Aeon's consciousness—past, present, and future displayed simultaneously.
Every possible outcome.
Every branching decision.
Every death.
Saturn turned the timeline toward Aeon.
Saturn:
"Look."
Aeon saw it.
He saw himself continuing forward with two 4D orbs bound to a single consciousness.
He saw his 8D body destabilize.
Then—
collapse.
His form shattered into microscopic clusters of cosmic debris, scattering across dimensions until nothing remained. No body. No anchor. No return.
Only consciousness—ripped free and dissolving.
Aeon screamed.
Aeon:
"What is happening?! My lord—who am I going to return to?! My body—my body is being destroyed! Save me!"
The vision did not stop.
Aeon watched his own end unfold in silence.
Saturn stood unmoved.
Aeon's voice broke.
Aeon:
"My 8D body is being erased right in front of me… please… I beg you…"
Silence ruled the black expanse.
Then Saturn spoke.
Saturn:
"Consider this a lesson."
The timeline froze.
Saturn:
"You and your consciousness were moments away from nonexistence. I will not always be there to pull you out."
Aeon felt shame, fear, and anger collide inside him.
Saturn:
"For a 3D human's perception… you risked your existence."
Saturn's voice hardened.
Saturn:
"Was it worth your life?"
Aeon clenched what remained of his will.
Aeon:
"Yes, my lord."
Saturn turned.
Aeon continued, desperate but honest.
Aeon:
"If I face this situation again… I will examine all possible outcomes first. Then I will decide. Forgive me."
Saturn studied him.
Then—with a single motion—he collapsed the projected timeline, compressing it back into the Crystalline Time Core and reinserting it into Aeon's consciousness.
Aeon felt stability return.
But Saturn did not release the core immediately.
Instead, he broke a fragment from it.
The shard shattered into fine crystalline dust.
Saturn scattered it across a newly forming object—sharp, ancient, and forbidden.
A new Timepusskatar.
Aeon recoiled.
Aeon:
"Why create another? I already have one."
Saturn's gaze cut through him.
Saturn:
"Do as I say."
A pause.
Saturn:
"Do you wish to remain in the eighth dimension?"
Aeon fell silent.
Saturn completed the weapon.
The new Timepusskatar activated.
It performed only one action.
It reversed time.
Reversal In less than a fraction of a millisecond, Aeon felt reality snap backward.
His body reassembled.
His Supereons stabilized.
His 8D form restored.
Aeon stood once again above Earto, moments before the cop had opened fire.
Everything—undone.
But at a cost.
Aeon felt the absence immediately.
His accumulated Supereons—gone.
His progress—erased.
Yet his 8D form remained intact.
Saturn had not stripped him of what truly mattered.
Saturn's voice thundered into Aeon's consciousness.
Saturn:
"Listen carefully."
Aeon froze mid-air.
Saturn:
"If you repeat this mistake, you will violate the law of the time fabric itself."
The words pressed down on Aeon like gravity.
Saturn:
"You have consumed many beings. Their timelines are tied to yours. If you fracture time again, their existence will become uncertain—alive and dead simultaneously."
Saturn's tone sharpened.
Saturn:
"Aeon… you are not controlled by time."
A pause.
Saturn:
"You control it."
Aeon bowed within his consciousness.
Aeon:
"Grant me your forgiveness, my lord Saturn."
Saturn:
"You are set free."
Then—
A threat.
Saturn:
"But repeat this once more, and you will find yourself inside my belly."
Aeon swallowed.
Aeon:
"As you wish, my lord… am I forgiven?"
Saturn:
"Not this time."
Silence.
Saturn:
"No more questions. Continue."
Saturn vanished.
Time resumed.
The cop was still there—weapon raised, heart racing.
Aeon hovered above him, unseen.
This time, Aeon did not change dimensions.
He made a decision.
Aeon consumed the cop's consciousness, absorbing his Supereons instantly, leaving behind nothing but a silent body unaware of what it had nearly witnessed.
Aeon moved forward.
The path ahead was darker now.
But clearer.
To be continued…