"With experience as the dust material, kneading and remolding it creates another realm called imagination."
"Yet the gradual fading of the dust material itself becomes memory. Your memories often contain doubtful points."
"Looking back on the past, you are traversing a history whose authenticity cannot be verified—"
"At this moment, countless flashbacks shuttle before you like film reels. In that disaster that plagued five eras, you saw THEM…"
When the Simulated Universe text reached the fourth paragraph, an illustration of an Aeon appeared in the scene.
THEY seemed to merge with the dark part of the starry sky.
THEIR divine body was similar to Nanook, Xipe, and Yaoshi, appearing not much different from a human form.
THEIR body seemed to be condensed from countless inscriptions. Strange light and shadow seeped from every crack.
A small number of players recognized this light and shadow — it looked very much like the concrete expression of the concept of causality in certain works.
THEIR appearance was clearly masculine in outline. THEIR eyes were tightly closed, filled with a heart-stealing majesty.
THEIR right arm was a weapon, resembling a giant judgment sword. The blade was embedded with countless incomprehensible Sanskrit characters.
The main outline of the Path symbol representing THEM was exactly such a giant sword.
At the bottom of the giant sword existed several star systems.
Below the Path symbol, THEIR name and the Path THEY presided over were marked.
"Decree of Delusion" — Ming
Countless players were stunned.
No… who are you?
THEY didn't appear at all throughout the entire Swarm Disaster. During the divine war, the text didn't mention THEM either.
How did THEY suddenly pop up at the end of the Swarm Disaster?
[WOC, what a handsome Aeon!]
[I thought Nanook's illustration was already majestic enough. If this one opened THEIR eyes, it would probably intimidate many people with insufficient mental fortitude until their legs went soft.]
Ah Xian didn't speak. She carefully examined the illustration, her eyes filled with doubt.
Why did she feel that this Decree of Delusion Aeon… had a pair of wings merged into the darkness behind THEM?
Because the color and background were too similar, and there were basically no visible feather outlines, she could only take a screenshot and throw it into image processing software.
She adjusted the levels and improved the exposure of the local tones.
She wanted to confirm whether those were wings or not.
But unfortunately, she still couldn't tell.
[Ah Xian, what are you doing?]
"Nothing."
She closed the image processing software and returned to the game interface to continue clicking the mouse.
The text on the right updated.
Ming: "You and the others, with the benevolence of candlelight and the slaughter of thorn punishment, absurdly alter causality. Do you know that the galaxy's blood and tears have long seeped into the palms of your hands?"
Ah Xian fell into thought.
"Everyone still remembers the title mentioned in the 5-star Leon character story, right?"
"Arbiter of Delusion."
"In some fictional works, the character 'Delusion' can be used to describe behavior that oversteps or violates, and can also describe a person's arrogance, self-importance, Delusion, or ridiculousness."
"But in Leon's story, the meaning of Arbiter of Delusion should be translated literally."
"The text mentioned terms like correcting causality and overstepping."
"So, Arbiter of Delusion can roughly be understood as judging all acts of overstepping and disrupting causality."
"Analyzing this concept on the level of a Path, it seems a bit terrifying, because you cannot clearly define what truly constitutes overstepping behavior."
"For example: Someone receives a great gift package from another world and is about to be killed by great fortune. Another person saves him and changes his fate. Does that count as disrupting causality?"
"From a human moral perspective, it undoubtedly cannot count, because a person's right to life is supreme."
"But if we set aside positions and rise to a philosophical level, it's not so easy to say…"
"In Leon's character story, those races that coveted the Sky Haven Clan's abilities and committed genocide — I think there's no need to explain too much."
Hearing her words, many players in the live stream fell into thought.
Ah Xian continued sharing her thoughts.
"Breaking down 'Decree of Delusion': 'Decree' can refer to imperial edicts and can also be extended to mean admonition or rectification."
"'Delusion' was mentioned earlier and can be simplified further to false, ridiculous words, deeds, or thoughts."
"The 'arbiter' in Arbiter of Delusion may also require prerequisite conditions such as having a justified cause."
"As for Decree of Delusion, it carries a very domineering meaning that the final right of interpretation belongs to me…"
"On a larger scale, the main behavioral tenets of the Paths walked by the vast majority of Aeons can currently be considered overstepping!"
"Isn't this naturally opposed to most Aeons?"
"During the launch period, there were no records of Decree of Delusion in the archives. Herta and other geniuses had never heard of THEM. Only now has THEIR true form been revealed."
"Before the Swarm Disaster plot, the only clues existed in Leon's character story."
"At that time, many people were guessing what faction the Arbiter of Delusion belonged to. Now we finally know."
"That being said, if my analysis is correct, could it be that the Decree of Delusion Aeon was also ganged up on and shattered by the various Aeons?"
"Just like the current Propagation Aeon."
[Reasonable and well-founded. Convincing.]
[The question arises: The Decree of Delusion faction dealt with the culprits who caused the extinction of the Sky Haven Clan. Then does the god who gave the Sky Haven Clan new life count as overstepping?]
[In my personal opinion, it counts, but it also doesn't completely count.]
[Then the question comes again: Why hasn't the god that our Leon's Father worships appeared yet? THEY're hiding way too deeply.]
"I don't know either." Ah Xian spread her hands.
Many settings and past events in this game were scattered across fragmented text.
Sometimes the chronological order wasn't even known.
It all depended on how many conclusive statements the officials provided.
There was still very little information about the god worshipped by Leon and the entire Sky Haven Clan.
Judging from the Heavenly Feather Sacred Envoy and Salvation Emissary factions, it was definitely a good god. In the Xianzhou Alliance, THEY would absolutely receive the honorable title of Arbiter.
Ah Xian continued clicking on the screen and reading the subsequent text.
But she didn't expect that the following development would be explosive among explosives.
The previous text said that Oroboros had disappeared without a trace and that Ena had been swallowed by Xipe for some unknown reason, right?
Now they knew.
It was simply terrifying.
The two gods, Voracity and Order — one had all THEIR giant mouths severed by Ming and fled in panic.
The other had THEIR Order Eye stabbed blind and the threads that maintained THEIR limbs and controlled countless worlds severed.
Even Ena's right arm was gone.
And it was the kind where two fought together.
Although these were only described through text and there were no visuals like Propagation's fall scene.
It was still enough to make people horrified.
"Damn, beating up two ancient Aeons like this — what kind of terrifying power is this…?"
"I might have to take back my previous guess. Even if you pulled in the Amber Lord, it probably wouldn't be enough for Ming to beat up…"
It was unknown why, after heavily injuring both, Ming completely disappeared without a trace.
The text came to an abrupt end.
"No wonder Xipe swallowing Ena looked completely effortless. Uh… speculation that it was effortless. Aha's reaction at the time could explain some things."
"As for Oroboros who ran away, it's unclear whether THEY were chased down and killed by Ming or hid away to recover from injuries."
Ah Xian had not considered one possibility—
That the Decree of Delusion Aeon was already dead.
With such terrifying combat performance, most people subconsciously would not easily think that Ming had fallen.