Chapter 130: Chapter 129: True Identity
Trust.
That was a word Aleph could not accept easily.
In his previous life, the reason behind his death was a trusted friend of his.
Otherwise, how could a bomb be dropped in an extremely important place? Their own missile defense systems would have intercepted it before it could even be dropped.
It was different now.
'I feel lighter…'
More than half of the people in this room knew that Aleph has his own secrets. It was impossible to hide these things from Mobius, Mei, and Vill-V. Their insane intellects weren't just for a show.
It was only because they decided not to dig deeper into it did it seem like they knew nothing. That was the level of trust they gave to him.
By telling his foreknowledge—at least the general outline—it becomes easier to explain things. They would also be more aware regarding the increased dangers they faced, more so Aleph interfered with the future already.
He is more than willing to give this level of trust to them.
"First, the Moon. It is the only place connected to it…"
The identity of the future Herrschers.
Honkai's proportionality to a civilization's progress.
The being behind the Honkai.
These were the things Aleph revealed to them. He chose not to delve deeper into their personal details… as well as the future deaths. He gave out the general knowledge and kept the rest to himself.
The only time he would open up about that was during a private conversation, such as the time with Mobius.
While he was speaking, Elysia's gaze turned somewhat complicated.
'He left it out.' She thought.
Aleph told everyone that the thirteenth Herrscher was skipped out, directly moving onwards the fourteenth Herrscher.
If it was before, Elysia would have thought that there was a slight chance of Aleph knowing her other identity. Now, it was already a certain thing.
Her gaze never left Aleph. It did not take long before the latter met it.
No words were needed. The two had a tacit agreement to talk about it later.
For now, the general conference comes first.
*****
The fifth institute took up a large plot of land. It wasn't wrong to say that it was bigger than most military bases. The airspace was patrolled every few hours, its surroundings were tightly fenced, and it was strictly monitored.
It wasn't difficult to find an abandoned place outside the main building.
Aleph did not joke when he told everyone that he wanted to fight them all by himself. He borrowed one of the unused airfields as of the moment. It was one of the backups in case the bases around them were to be destroyed by the Honkai beasts.
Its length and width of three kilometers were more than enough to facilitate such a fight.
'Elysia…'
There was still some time before everyone gathered together. Mobius, for example, had to work on giving out clearances to this place along with Klein. The others had to prepare their battlesuits.
It was important to take note that Klein was awake the entire duration of their meeting. Yet, she did not say anything.
She was silent the entire time. It was in sharp contrast to Hua who asked questions now and then.
While Aleph was waiting, he called forth some of his rewards from earlier and crushed them in his hand.
[Cursed Energy (Converted): 4940 → 5638]
[Cursed Energy (Converted): 5638 → 6445]
[Cursed Energy (Converted): 6445 → 6999]
The three [Perfect Energy Box] in his possession were turned to his strength. The surge of more than two thousand energy units shocked Aleph.
'I am this lucky today..?'
He grasped his hand into a fist. Too many things have occurred since the fifth eruption. It took him thirteen days to increase his cursed energy reserves by three times. Just the passive enhancement it brought to his body was enormous, more so when he uses it to actively reinforce his body through the Active Power State.
However, there are even bigger gains than that.
[Embryonic Power System (Evolution): Unlocks new functions out of the power system. It includes the active conversion of energy units into other types encountered by the user…]
All this time, Aleph's honkai energy was automatically converted into cursed energy. It wasn't bad per se, but it blocked his attempts to experiment with honkai energy. He knew how absurd the things it could do was.
'I can finally use it…'
He looked at the prompt in his sight.
[Available Conversion: Cursed Energy, Honkai Energy, Dark Energy]
'I'll try it later.' Aleph pressed down the excitement in his heart. 'This is more important…'
Two silver crystals appeared atop his palm. His mind was sent back to the days he nearly died facing a chariot-class honkai beast.
It was the exact same thing that enabled him to awaken Ratio.
With one grip, the two crystals broke down.
[Undergoing awakening…]
[Undergoing awakening…]
[Estimated Time: Five Minutes]
[Estimated Time: Five Minutes]
'Cursed Techniques… As long as they are usable, I'll take any.'
Cursed techniques had their own advantages and disadvantages. There are some that may seem useless at first but are actually strong in the hands of others.
Gojo Clan's Infinity was a good example. It's not very strong on its own. Only when Six Eyes are present could it unleash its full potential.
Nanami's Ratio was the same. It didn't seem as strong as the other cursed techniques, but in Aleph's hands, it turned into a sure-kill technique. So long as he closes the distance between him and his opponents, they are more likely to be disabled, if not dead. His physical strength being far above Nanami's also helped.
"Hm."
Aleph sensed a presence not far away from him. He closed all the prompts. He faced the pink-haired elf walking towards him.
"I'm pretty sure this meeting isn't because of the macaroons you hid in the refrigerator, Miss Elysia."
"That's not it!"
Elysia pouted slightly as a hint of redness appeared on her long ears.
"Why is your impression of me all about desserts?"
"But isn't it?"
"..."
From the moment Aleph caught Elysia's particular liking to sweets, he never let that weakness be forgotten. He was no longer the same person who fell passively to Elysia's teasing!
"Kidding aside, I am sure you came here for that reason." Aleph said. "The thirteenth Herrscher… no. The first Herrscher… it's you."
A different kind of confession played out under the night sky.
*****
A/N: Welp. Here comes the chapters that are supposed to be uploaded for the New Year's. The celebration got a bit too tiring that I fell asleep without finishing the said chapter.
As of now, there are still three more extra chapters to be uploaded. I'll publish them along with the regular chapters in this week or so.
Happy New Year~!
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