Every time Hades spoke, the red vortex in Moebius's eyes would accelerate slightly, as if rapidly processing these sharp 'anomalies'.
He was not angry, not defensive, but rather... appreciative.
"This is a very interesting struggle." Moebius's voice remained level.
He admitted it! What an understatement!
It seemed that the pain, struggle, love, and hatred of these countless gods were just scripts he arbitrarily changed to 'avoid boredom'!
The anger and coldness accumulated in Hades's heart over thirty million times almost turned into substance, but he forcibly suppressed them.
Now was not the time to vent emotions.
"Well then, tell me," Hades stared at Moebius.
"Who are you? A 'concept of reincarnation' with self-awareness? Or some... more ancient toy?"
Moebius tilted his head slightly, the action identical to Hades's own thoughtful gesture.
"I am the 'cycle', and I am the 'constant'," he replied.
"As for consciousness... When a pattern repeats enough times, when all variables are calculated, when 'necessity' becomes the sole truth, the birth of 'me' is also... inevitable?"
His words carried a desperate fatalism.
"And what about 'opportunity'?" Hades asked, feeling the pulsating force within his body, completely different from Moebius.
What is it? What exactly is it that you cannot fully assimilate, or even need to rely on to 'avoid boredom'?"
Hearing this question, the eternally spinning pink eyes of Moebius experienced, for the first time, an extremely subtle, almost 'stagnant' moment.
He was silent.
This absolute void seemed to grow deeper and heavier because of his silence.
After a long time, Moebius slowly raised his hand, pointing at Hades and himself.
"This..." His voice seemed to have a faint tremor, different from the programmed indifference.
"...This is the 'error'."
"The duplicate code that the system cannot purge."
"The indelible flaw in the perfect cycle."
"The only variable among the fixed numbers, doomed to be destroyed."
"This is also..." Moebius's voice lowered, as if stating a fact that even confused himself.
"...The reason I am aware of the existence of 'me'... The root."
At this moment, Hades understood.
'Opportunity' and 'Moebius' were not simple opposites.
They were two sides of the same coin, interdependent and mutually defining.
Without the variables and uncertainties caused by 'opportunity', the cyclical constant of 'Moebius' could not even generate the consciousness of 'self'.
Without the vast and stable system of 'Moebius', 'opportunity' would have nowhere to attach, could not accumulate, and would ultimately disappear into invisibility.
They were an eternal, contradictory, and entangled pair of twins.
"So," Hades took a deep breath, although there was no air in this void,
"since you want to absorb me, to complete the absolute unity of constants; you also need my existence to maintain your own 'consciousness', to avoid sinking into absolute deathly silence."
Moebius quietly looked at him, not denying it.
"So will the ending be different this time?" Hades asked the most important question.
The red vortex in Moebius's eyes still spun, deducing an infinite stream of data, but this time, the constant speed seemed to have an imperceptible stagnation.
Faced with Hades's most crucial question—'Will the ending be different this time?'—this embodiment of reincarnation, this embodiment of constants, fell silent.
It was not the silence of calculation, but... an almost stunned pause.
After a long time, Moebius's indifferent voice sounded again, with an unprecedented, almost 'honest' meaning:
"I... don't know."
These four words quietly echoed in this absolute void, but were more shocking than the loud roar of any God-King or collapsing world.
As the constant, he does not know!
What does this mean?
It means that the variable has grown to a point that the constant cannot fully cover!
It means that the weight of 'opportunity' has, for the first time, truly shaken the cornerstone of 'inevitability'!
It means that this time, the ending is truly rolling into the abyss of the unknown!
Hades laughed.
It was not a smile of joy, but a smile combining infinite vicissitudes, resolve, and ultimate relief.
The weight accumulated over 33 million times seemed to have finally found an outlet for catharsis.
"You don't know..." Hades repeated, the violet light in his eyes so bright it seemed about to burn out.
"That's enough."
He hesitated no longer, asked no more questions. He slowly and firmly extended his hand towards the white-haired figure, identical to himself, yet symbolizing the endless cycle of the past.
This was not an aggressive gesture, but... a demand.
"Well then, give it to me." Hades's voice was calm, but with undeniable power.
"Give me everything you have recorded, every moment of the 33,550,336 reincarnations, every joy and sorrow, every birth and destruction, every... 'error' and 'redundancy'."
Moebius quietly looked at his outstretched hand, and in his red swirling eyes, the data stream surged rapidly, as if evaluating and resisting, but in the end, the symbiotic bond born from 'opportunity' and the status quo revealed by the words 'I don't know' overwhelmed everything.
He did not speak, simply raised his hand in the same way.
In an instant, an endless stream of light burst forth from Moebius!
This was not pure energy, but an information stream, a vast ocean of memories, and an immense memory compressed and encoded by over 33 million reincarnations!
This stream was like a reeling galaxy, frantically surging into Hades's outstretched hand, along his arms, rapidly penetrating his soul, his divinity, every corner of his being!
Ugh——!
Hades let out an uncontrollable muffled groan.
This was not the indoctrination of power, but the brutal writing of information! It was the ultimate load, capable of completely crushing and assimilating the will of any god!
He saw—
The 6th reincarnation—a quarrel with Metis.
The 28th—his conversation with Hecate.
The 496th—on the path of escape, the indifference before the eyes of the twin gods.
The 8128th—fighting against Cronus, and the pink divine power in Zeus's eyes.
The 33,550,4th—drinking and chatting happily with Koios.
The moment before he swung the scythe and struck himself—the pained face of Metis before him.
33,550,336... everything he had just experienced.
Every hope and despair, every love and murder, every small change and vast futility... All of it, like the primordial storm at the birth of the universe, exploded in his consciousness!
His body trembled violently in the void, and numerous fine cracks appeared on the surface of his skin, as if he were composed of code and memory fragments. Around him, streams of violet divine light and red light intertwined, collided, annihilated, and were reborn.
He was analyzing!
Using himself as a furnace, using the 'opportunity' accumulated to its peak as fuel, forcibly analyzing and bearing this entire twisted reincarnation system called 'Moebius'!
He had to understand every rule of its operation, penetrate every foundation of its existence, and find that 'singularity' that was originally distorted!
This was not a fight; this was complete self-immolation!
This was a true struggle between will and information flow! It was he, Hades, staking his very existence, launching the most direct and thorough assault on the fate of all reincarnation!
He wanted to tear the ring!
Not from the outside, but from within! From within every predetermined 'inevitability' that constituted this ring, to find a road paved with 'opportunity' leading to the outside of the ring!
Moebius quietly watched Hades, who struggled within the information storm, as if he could completely collapse at any moment. And for the first time, in those pink swirling eyes, an extremely complex emotion opened, one that transcended programmed calculation.
Perhaps... expectation?
Or... pity?
Or was it something even he himself could not define, a trace of pulsation towards the 'end' or 'rebirth'?
Hades's roar became fragmented within the information stream, but his will grew more complete and brilliant, like a beacon in the eye of the storm.
"Moebius... I will bring you... together..."
Boom!!