I'm in Honkai: Star Rail, and the Players are Going Feral Over Me!

Chapter 407 - 68 - The Devouring of a Path

In that case, killing It wouldn't be a difficult matter.

But the moment Wende's foot stepped into this massive subterranean "palace," Tayzzyronth, who had been motionless like a statue in the center, suddenly stirred. It turned its colossal body, its profane form facing Wende's direction.

Instantly, all the insects near Wende revealed their savage mouthparts and sharp limbs. Their crimson compound eyes reflected Wende's figure, filled with rage!

If their god hadn't discovered this intruder, they would probably still be unaware that their most sacred deity had nearly been violated by the human before them!

Tayzzyronth's discovery did not fluster Wende. After all, even the weakest Aeon was, at the end of the day, still within the category of [Aeon]. Since It was an Aeon, its perception of Paths would naturally not be as dull as a mortal's. An existence concealing its form, whose aura did not belong to the Path of [Propagation], had invaded Its palace. No matter who it was, it would eventually become a broodmother for its children!

There was no need for Tayzzyronth to give the order! All the insects near Wende spread the wings under their carapaces and charged ferociously towards him!

At the same time, dozens of giant insects of various shapes and colors also rushed into the underground space, their gazes hostile as they stared at Wende, who was now completely surrounded.

These were Tayzzyronth's most powerful fighting forces! The Emanators of Propagation, blessed by [Propagation]!

In this world, no single individual could survive an onslaught from a swarm of suicidal insects and Emanators of Propagation...

Of course, this did not include the existence of an [Aeon], and naturally, it did not include Wende!

Wende simply snapped his fingers. The chaotic power of [Order] reverted all the surrounding insects to the purest matter of this world. Carbon-based lifeforms were reduced to their fundamental carbon elements, finally dissipating into fine ash beside him.

"ROAR!!!!"

Seeing that the ordinary insects could do no harm to Wende, the Emanators of Propagation charged straight at him, their mouthparts larger than Wende's entire body. Dozens of Emanators launched a ferocious attack on Wende simultaneously!

This was likely an extremely rare sight in the history of the cosmos: multiple Emanator-level units attacking the same person.

If this were directed at a mortal, or even another Emanator, it would be a supreme honor. But for Wende, it was probably the insect Emanators who should feel honored! After all... besides Aeons themselves, almost no one else had ever personally participated in an attack on another Aeon.

Faced with the attack of these Emanators, Wende appeared completely at ease. Because of the blessing of the [Propagation] Path, Wende couldn't directly convert them into their primordial state with [Order]. Although the power of Chaos itself had no offensive properties, all things that evolved from Chaos could be used as his own!

Wende was not intimidated by these giant insects that dwarfed him. The long-unseen Sword of Yin and Yang reappeared in his hand. In the past, he might have struggled with which template to use to fight more effectively, but now...

Shing!

A sword hummed, and then!

The Emanators of Propagation surrounding Wende froze in mid-air, as if time had been stopped.

Wende simply held the Sword of Yin and Yang and walked, step by step, towards Tayzzyronth.

Tayzzyronth showed no emotional response to Wende's advance. Instead, It continuously evolved new insects through the Path of Propagation, which were then turned into pure carbon by the chaotic power surrounding Wende.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Emanators behind Wende, as if struck by something, contorted in the air before slowly turning to dust and dissipating.

Tayzzyronth seemed completely oblivious to this. From the moment Wende appeared until now, aside from turning to mark Wende's presence for the other insects, all It seemed to do was endlessly [Propagate], endlessly creating insects. It was as if It had no thoughts of Its own, like... a puppet purely driven by its Path!

Even when Wende was a mere ten steps away, It made no aggressive or defensive moves. Although the insects outside continuously tried to break into the underground space, under the shroud of chaotic power, not a single living thing could breach the subterranean palace.

Wende stood there, quietly looking at Tayzzyronth. Neither side made a move; they simply stared at each other.

The moment Wende stepped in here, he understood one thing: "he" could not kill Tayzzyronth the [Propagation]. Of course, he could physically destroy Tayzzyronth's body and stop the Swarm Disaster, but [Propagation] itself would not disappear.

The death of an Aeon does not affect its Path. Or rather, an Aeon is a slave to its Path, yet it is also the Path itself. As long as the Path exists, the Aeon, in a sense, still exists. Unless, like Taichi or Akivili, they chose someone else to inherit the Path, or...

...the devouring of one Path by another.

And as Wende understood that he could not kill Tayzzyronth, the body of the insect god before him suddenly began to grow illusory. At the same time, Wende felt another power from a [Path] pouring endlessly into his body, gradually merging with [Order]!

This was the Path symbolizing [Propagation]! And at this moment, it was being devoured by Wende!

This was not hard to understand. Conceptually, the instinct of [Propagation] could be seen as an extension of the Path of [Order] under [Natural Order]. All things exist because of [Order], and [Propagation] was no exception.

From this perspective, [Order] could completely devour [Propagation].

In an instant, the Tayzzyronth before him completely vanished into nothingness. Its figure disappeared entirely from the cosmos, never to return...

This was the devouring of Paths, the most brutal cosmic law between Aeons. Admittedly, the number of Aeons in the universe was extremely small, and the devouring of Paths rarely occurred, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen.

Although Taichi was once devoured by [Harmony], that was merely a stopgap measure. The Path of [Order], by any measure, was far broader than the Path of [Harmony]. And the term [Order] itself encompassed an immense extension...

Wende seemed to understand something, yet he didn't fully understand...

Looking at the vast, empty underground space around him, he closed his eyes, carefully comprehending the true meaning symbolized by [Propagation].

If life was a four-season cycle of "birth, old age, sickness, and death," then Propagation symbolized the "birth" at the beginning.

Tayzzyronth's narrow-mindedness had caused Propagation to be mistakenly applied only to the Swarm. In truth, the Path of Propagation was broad enough to apply to all life!

And life itself was a part of [Order].

---o---

After "reclaiming" the Path of Propagation, Wende returned to his room on Astral Express Line One. He didn't meet with anyone, simply sitting at his desk, picking up a pen and paper he hadn't touched in a long time. He opened his journal and looked at the contents he had written at the very beginning...

That time... it didn't seem that long ago... Time passed both quickly and slowly.

Looking at the various aspirations his past self had written in the journal, a smile blossomed on Wende's face.

What did he think when he first transmigrated to this world? He had a mysterious system and was told he would become stronger as long as his actions were liked by people in the "real world."

He had wracked his brains over that back then...

Later, as he formed genuine bonds with everyone on the Express, that proactive effort for attention gradually turned into the tacit care between family members. Honestly, the changes along the way had been immense...

Now, he was almost completely disconnected from the so-called "reality." Wende even suspected that "reality" might be a reachable bubble universe. If he were just given the coordinates, he could go there directly.

Subsequent discoveries made him realize that this system wasn't some cliché trope. It had been intentionally placed on him by certain beings. From the very beginning... its existence was to help Wende adapt to this world...

And the final goal, the conversation between Taichi of [Order] and HooH of [Equilibrium], the information periodically revealed by Long of [The Permanence], the future glimpsed by the Stellaron Hunters, the prisoners of fate...

And it wasn't until today that he seemed to have discovered their ultimate goal...

That's right... the Path of [Order] was too vast... Simply the cycle of "birth, old age, sickness, and death..." was enough to devour the Paths of three Aeons into [Order]...

This was truly a grand game of chess. And on the chessboard... only one piece could remain in the end.

Closing the journal and putting it in his drawer, Wende stood up and once again looked out at the boundless cosmos beyond the train.

This starry sky was infinite, without borders. Even the [Frontier] as defined by the IPC was merely the furthest point the Corporation could reach, not the limit of the universe.

And he... was he just a drop in the ocean, or the one who controlled the cosmos...

Wende's gaze grew deep and profound. Long did not appear to disturb his thoughts. Perhaps this was also within his expectations?

But none of that mattered. He now just lacked an opportunity to verify the thoughts in his mind. And such an opportunity... still existed!

Wende's gaze pierced through layers of cosmic space, finally meeting a pair of golden pupils.

That was a legitimate opportunity for him to verify his thoughts! The... [Death] within the cycle of the four seasons.

---o---

"Ugh... I'm so tired, my legs are numb... Even though this trailblazing trip didn't have any trouble, just helping to resolve some disputes on their planet... why did we have to run back and forth four or five times between a dozen different places to solve one thing! It's so annoying!"

March 7th, having just finished this leg of their journey, looked indignant. She kicked off her shoes, which felt tight from all the running around, and flopped onto the sofa barefoot, fuming.

Stelle also decisively threw her shoes off and collapsed onto the sofa with a look of utter despair, lying side-by-side with March, looking like two dried-out salted fish.

"It can't be helped. But you can rest well after today. Most of the planets in the core star systems have been reconnected. Except for a few reclusive planets that refused to link to the star rail, the Express has repaired nearly fifty percent of the rails in just a short month. That's a very impressive result."

Himeko smiled at the two girls瘫倒 on the sofa.

"Aah~~ It's so great to have a vacation, but I really don't want to go anywhere. I just want to get a good night's sleep. I've stayed up so much these past two days that even my skin has gotten dull..."

March pouted, stroking her small face with a wronged expression.

"Sigh... I really want to eat Wende's cooking..."

Stelle stared at the train's ceiling with dead-fish eyes, muttering.

"How much do you miss it?"

"Huh?!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Stelle's eyes instantly lit up like little stars. Like an energetic raccoon-fish, she sprang up from the sofa with a sharp flip and dove straight into Wende's arms.

"I miss it so much I don't even want to flip through trash cans anymore!!"

Stelle looked at Wende with teary eyes, her expression full of grievance.

During this time, she kept thinking, wouldn't it be great if Wende hadn't gone to Line Two? Then she could eat his cooking every day, just like before!

"Alright, alright. If you don't want to flip through them, then don't. It saves me from having to do laundry. Have you been washing your own clothes properly while I was away?"

Wende straightened Stelle's slightly messy hair, his tone like he was coaxing a child.

"Of course I have!"

Beside them, March stared for a moment as Stelle burrowed her head into Wende's chest. It was only after Stelle had finished her bout of affectionate whining that March snapped back to reality. Seeing that Wende's embrace was fully occupied, she decisively twisted her body and squeezed her way in.

"I missed you a lot too, you know! Don't you forget about me!"

"Okay, okay, how could I forget our adorable little March? What do you want to eat? I'll go make it for you."

Wende ruffled March's pink hair, his voice full of doting affection.

"Mmm... let me think. I want fried chicken! No... stir-fry is delicious too... Forget it! As long as you're the one cooking, I love it all!"