The ruthlessness of time.
The apathy of Aeons.
The more Aleph learned of these things, the stronger his longing towards home became.
Crack-!
The barrier in his grasp resisted his entire power. Simultaneously, the rejection imposed onto him gradually became stronger.
'I will use it as a guide. Send back my information to them.'
Its firmness far exceeded his expectations. The power of the Tree unimaginably gathered strongly on it. He could not tell whether it was due to the 'trial' imposed by Terminus or something else.
Either way, it was very strong.
'I bear the name of Infinity, yet… I can't even do something as simple as this..?'
Things mostly went along with his plan. Aleph's act of setting up intrigue to attract Nous' attention up to the confrontation against the imaginary barrier exceeded his minimum requirements.
However, it ends there.
Hum-!
Crackle-!
A resounding thunderous sound rang on the void. It was no longer on the scope of the physical, but the intangible. It was a metaphysical sound produced by complex information clashing together.
Zoom-!
Slits of dark void appeared within his hundred-million kilometers radius. The void shook as the confrontation between the Tree's rejection force and Aleph's authorities became stronger.
'I am…'
He felt the world slowly moving away from his grasp. He did not have the power nor condition to proceed. The best he could do was form bits of cracks that could pass on brief messages to them.
What Aleph had to cross was not just the Earth inside the barrier, but the real Earth outside this parallel world.
In the end, he could only send the messages he thought of before.
Aleph still had a final option—to use No Second Strike's specialty to converge his everything—but he dared not use it. The weight of seven authorities was completely unimaginable.
Moreover…
'That chilling feeling. I hate to stay under its rules… but it's best not to use it.'
He did not want to accidentally destroy the Earth covered by this imaginary barrier. No matter how "fake" it was, it was still a 'true' world in the realest sense.
There was a reason why he did not pull the trigger on the ten-million strong Abundance army. They were currently residing conceptually in his palm—now his pocket space formed by Door.
The realization of empathy slipping away from him was something he would not neglect.
Hum-!
By the time he was about to contain his True Form to escape the Tree's rejection, someone unexpected woke up.
Time went completely still.
{Analysis completed.}
{Assimilating the Database from the being known as the "Circle of Inevitability".}
{Analysis completed.}
{Analysis completed.}
{Feasibility confirmed.}
A life-like voice rang in his ears.
'Bron… no. She's still Prometheus.'
Momentarily, Aleph was struck by her changes. It was as if she "grew" up the more she traveled with him.
{Reminder. A framework created upon analysis of the recent database has been established. It is currently the most optimal finding to integrate authorities and increase the level of existence.}
Metatron spat out these words with the speed of light.
{Conclusion. Use the authority [Infinity] as a core. Reduce the levels of the other authorities to become its beneficiaries. For each corresponding authority, a specific function will be assigned…}
{Reminder. The level of existence correlates with the ability to affect the world using one's complex information. It is a theoretical aspect that grows stronger through two ways: independent correlation and isolated linear relationship.}
The information presented by Metatron was vast. It could easily be compared to an entire chapter's worth of information dumping.
'I see…'
Fortunately, Aleph was not the type to write things as it is. He understood the important points in her words.
First was the allocation of positions between his authorities. Up until now, Aleph chose to leave them alone. He explored them separately. Creating a hierarchy between his authorities would allow them to complement each other.
It might just solve his problem of having too many authorities to use.
The other thing was the level of existence. It was something Metatron had deduced during his slumber. Only now was she able to somewhat confirm its validity.
In simplest terms, it was the 'level' between Aeons. Comparing to his earlier days, it was the energy that fueled his techniques and abilities.
Aleph's transformation into a complex information lifeform rendered energy capacity measurements rather useless. What mattered the most was the raw power behind the authorities—the degree of influence that could be exerted by it.
'Independent correlation… It uses the self as a center to integrate authorities onto oneself. It's an improvement caused by the self.' He thought. 'Isolated linear relationship… Pathways can be used like this…'
The former's term explains everything. It was the act of leveling up through the usage of authorities alone. The latter utilizes the power of anchors (i.e., Pathstriders) to increase the level of influence.
It was more direct compared to the latter in a way that it literally elevates the level of existence the more "known" Aleph becomes.
The two methods have their pros and cons, but it was not something that he wanted to think of now.
"Metatron…"
{The analysis of the being known as "Circle of Inevitability" forms the basis of the framework. The authority of Infinity has to take the main role…}
Metatron answered before Aleph could ask her. The increase of her processing speed after obtaining the seemingly ordinary [Scroll] was absurd.
Click.
Everything occurred in an instant.
The creation of the hierarchy was finished in an instant. Six of Aleph's authorities glowed dimmer before regaining their brilliance under the indescribable light. They soon became interconnected with one another, thus resolving his limitation of only four authorities at a time.
'They are slightly weaker, but I can divide their burdens into two. The two-faced Spirit Core works well with this…'
The overwhelming surge of omnipotence nearly made him drunk in power. It was the same indescribable light but with the addition of several noticeable brilliances.
The limits of his previous strength were broken at this moment.
Bam-!
Hundreds of different lights "exploded" at this moment, forming a sight far surpassing an ordinary aurora. Its luminance was as strong as an entire solar system going supernova at the same time.
The phantom of a huge hand regained its prior firmness.
Unlike before, it did not forcefully intrude on the barrier. It slowly began to merge with it instead.
Rumble-!
Hum-!
The imaginary barrier sensed the intrusion and tried its best to shake it off. This time, however, Aleph came with a stronger force.
'...I will be selfish for once.'
This thought disappeared as one of his fingers passed through the imaginary barrier.
Bzzt-!
Rumble-!
He did not care about its adverse reactions. All that mattered was the successful usage of his authority.
'Door… Hm.'
An ordinary looking white door appeared atop Aleph. It was hung horizontally above him.
If it happened that someone opened that door…
"Ah..?!"
…they would fall headfirst to the ground.