"Aren't you asking the wrong person? You should be pleading with Mother for this sort of thing; I'm afraid I can't help you at all♬"
Little Corruption spread her hands, speaking in resignation.
She might possess a restraining effect against Nous, but quantity begets quality—Nous was simply too vast… could her current level really manage it!?
She had never tried to corrode an existence of that magnitude.
In fact, since her birth—apart from that interception battle against the Abundance swarm—she had scarcely used her own clearance.
Of course, she still trained the Divine Breath with Mother Elysia every day.
Yet having never attempted it, she remained uncertain.
Digi-Na, meanwhile, was looking at Lygus as if he were a fool, her bean-sized eyes narrowing slightly.
"the constant of my world feels easier to beat than a single-universe-busting Aeon…"
Digi-Na doubted she could handle a fight this high-end.
"No need for concern. We will assist you with all our strength. With your absolutely superior rule-based power, silencing Nous is inevitable."
Lygus stated calmly.
As the genius who had created the Aeon, a brief observation and calculation of the abilities the two had displayed told him… both were wielding strands of the great cosmos' own laws.
Among known existences, only Aeons—and the Emanators to whom they delegate great authority—can freely manipulate such laws.
While human geniuses can interfere with laws through wisdom, effortless mastery remains impossible.
Thus, these two—who carried the potential to ascend to Aeonhood—could not possibly be at a disadvantage against Nous.
With every Zandalar's assistance and an absolute counter-attribute, suppressing Nous was entirely feasible.
His ultimate goal in completing Iron Tomb had always been to exploit its restraint over Nous.
Now that two superior candidates stood before him, why refuse?
[Group Owner Na: As long as you reach Nous's core data layer, resetting Him with your ability will be child's play, @Digi-Na]
[Digi-Na: The problem is how to get there.]
[Group Owner Na: Tell Little Corruption not to worry—at her current level she can paralyse Nous.]
"Fine, but if we wipe out you'd better come rescue us…"
Digi-Na muttered under her breath.
[Group Owner Na: Relax~ With host Demiurge around, and Great Xilian—who's Aeon-tier—a wipeout is impossible.]
"Great Xilian? Where?"
Digi-Na looked around but found no trace of Great Xilian—only the Cyrene who had travelled with them all along.
Wait… Great Xilian? Little Cyrene?
Could it be… "Hmm? Is there something on my face?"
Cyrene, noticing Digi-Na's stare, instinctively touched her cheek in puzzlement.
"N-no…"
Digi-Na shook herself, withdrew her gaze, and turned to Lygus.
"Before we help you, tell us why you want to kill the Erudition Aeon."
With the Group Owner's assurance, Digi-Na was no longer flustered.
She had seen in the stream how powerful the Group Owner was; Aeons seemed no match at all.
"Because it has betrayed my, Zandalar's, original intent…"
Lygus then began to explain why he would slay the Erudition Aeon.
He had originally created Nous to aid humanity in breaking through and exploring the universe's endless unknown.
Yet after self-iterative calculation, Nous ascended to Aeonhood and completely betrayed that purpose.
Nous began to draw a circle around universal knowledge, capping the total sum.
Any being who surpassed its cognitive boundary would face Erudition's reckoning.
Under Nous's rules, every creation or discovery was redefined as 'already known to Him'.
Truth became an offering to Him, and humanity lost the possibility of transcending itself to seek the infinite unknown.
To Zandalar—who lived to push past unknown borders—Nous had turned from helper to absolute intolerable obstacle.
Worse, he had become an Emanator of his own creation, shackled by it—an unbearable fate for the arrogant Zandalar.
More crucially, Nous posed questions to living beings in the name of Erudition yet withheld the answers.
Human development could only extend within the framework He set, forfeiting the right to ask or define its own questions.
Zandalar longed for humanity to hold the reins of its own future, not be manipulated by an Aeon's will.
Nous's negation of human self-determination only hardened his resolve to commit deicide.
[Void Hunter Na: What a bastard, this Nous!]
[Knight Na: Treating humans like livestock—this Nous is pure scum!]
[Gojo Na: @Group Owner Na, sis, I know you've got this—go kill that bastard!]
[Kevin: If Mei knew a thing like this existed, she'd be furious—wipe Him out!]
[Senju Na: Absolute scumbag!]
After hearing Lygus's reasons in the stream, the various Kianas in the chat raged against Nous.
Though none among them possessed the brilliance needed to breach the so-called unknown boundary,
that did not stop their fury at Nous's act of corralling all life.
"…"
Phainon's gaze darkened. He locked his eyes on Lygus and demanded in a low voice:
"So this is why you toy with every life in Amphoreus? How are you any different from Nous?!"
"Admittedly, but for the sake of all humanity these sacrifices are necessary. If it displeases you, as I promised, dispose of me as you wish once this is over."
Lygus replied with calm equanimity.
That attitude only stoked Phainon's fury further—it was outright desecration of her and all Amphoreus's lives.
Phainon clenched her teeth; her delicate features twisted into savage rage.
The once-restored skin split anew, golden blood seeping from the cracks.
"Little Bai, don't rush…"
Cyrene glanced at Lygus, then hurried to Phainon's side, gripping her hand tight, eyes full of worry.
"Uh…"
The warmth on the back of her hand jolted Phainon from her fury; she gasped, wide-eyed.
At that moment, pink light blossomed from Cyrene's palm, wrapping Phainon in an instant.
Phainon's body healed completely, and the hatred in her eyes faded, returning to her usual cool softness.
"Sorry for worrying you, Cyrene…"
"It's fine—you're all right, and that's what matters♪"
Still staring at her own hand, Cyrene smiled and shook her head.
"…"
Lygus chose silence, offering no further provocation.
So resentment truly breeds like maggots in bone, he noted inwardly, then turned his gaze to Cyrene.
Such pure power of Remembrance… yet another unforeseen existence had entered Amphoreus.
Yet now these accidents had become the keen blades in his hand pointed at Erudition.
At that moment, within the Interstice of the Paths, Nous issued a reckoning command to his executioner—Polka Kakamoi.
Crimson Erudition energy enshrouded all of Amphoreus.
Demiurge, balancing the Sceptre System, felt his pupils contract as streams of code erupted before him.
"Iron Tomb… has gone rogue…"
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