The fourteenth herrscher could not react. Her mind was sent to a standstill the moment she attempted to use her countermeasures. Her authority over time did not move as she wished. Her nigh-incomparable authority over honkai energy, second only to the Cocoon, could not be used.
Her time was sent to a grinding halt.
Everything she bore became useless. She was left defenseless at the face of the destructive purple light.
Zoom-!
A bright pillar of purple light created a considerable dent at the Moon's surface—a ravine spanning a thousand kilometers. One-tenth of the Moon was affected in one clash.
Aleph silently looked at the dissipating purple light.
'Ultimate Skills… One of them rendered the fourteenth herrscher helpless.'
The attack was a combination of Aleph's original abilities and Metatron's derived sub-skill, [Projection]. The former were enhanced by [Infinity], turning these attacks straight to the "Aeon-level".
Their fundamental mechanisms did not change, but their resistance towards high-ranking authorities—time manipulation as an example—increased sharply.
[Hollow Purple] was originally Satoru Gojo's move.
It was done by combining Blue (Attraction) and Red (Repulsion). It results in a conflict between these two forces, turning them insanely destructive.
Aleph added [Star Rage] into the mix.
Imaginary mass tends to attract other mass the greater it is. The resulting technique through Cursed Technique Reversal reversed that principle. It formed a negative mass that repulsed everything within the physical world.
These two techniques from [Star Rage] overlapped with [Infinity]. It created an attack that could destroy everything in its path, even against god-like beings.
Such a destructive attack warranted those who faced it to disappear.
Although, it won't mean anything if it does not hit its target. That was where [Projection] came.
The attack missed her. However, it still left a record on the "past". All that was left was to project that "past" to catch the fourteenth herrscher by surprise. The ending was what happened just now.
Complex thoughts spanning millions of paragraphs flashed by Aleph's mind.
'Something's not right.'
He looked at the place where the herrscher previously stood. Nothing was left in it. Black slits that revealed pitch black darkness filled the attack's trajectory. In theory, she was deader than dead.
The unease he felt did not disappear.
Crack-!
The sound of something being torn resounded in his ears.
Under Aleph's sight, purple arcs began cracking from the black slits. They were honkai energy so dense they showed tendencies of collapsing space itself.
Zip-!
Zoom-!
More black slits appeared on the Moon's atmosphere. It was akin to a piece of plastic being torn apart. The concentration of honkai energy began to reach an all-time peak.
Ripple.
There was one person who did not agree with it.
Aleph's thoughts spread to his surroundings. Wherever he thought of, a green prairie filled with countless flowers and small animals appeared. It engulfed the Moon's desolate appearance as it turned more than 8,000 kilometers into a place akin to paradise.
The light these flowers emitted illuminated the dark void. The moonlight's glow was imbued with a power that brought tranquility.
Only two thousand kilometers remained untouched by it. It was also the center of the black slits.
'The second stage.'
Aleph stared at the dark blue figure at the center. Her eyes conveyed a hint of frustration and anger.
She raised her right hand and pointed towards him. A contradicting image emerged from her back.
At first glance, it was a tsunami made of bright red flames. However, their texture made them look more like magma. The crackling sparks it emitted turned into black particles before floating around it.
Splash-!
The magma tsunami was brought down from its hold. It gushed to the green prairie, mercilessly turning nature's image into ashes.
Crackle-!
Swoosh-!
Sou-!
Nearly half of the Moon's surface was turned into a flaming hell.
'What next?'
The Herrscher stared at Aleph suspiciously. The latter stood still with his eyes closed. His act of not fighting back caused her alarm bells to ring continuously.
A crisp sound of torn space appeared behind her back. Aleph's figure had long since dissipated into nothingness.
For the second time, she was fooled at the field of time she specialized in.
Zoom-!
The Herrscher managed to dodge his "punch". It caused Aleph to fly through her without achieving results… or was it?
Hum.
He clasped both of his hands. It did not create any noise in a vacuum such as space. Yet, she saw how her surroundings turned into another world.
The Fourteenth instinctively used her authority to overwrite her surroundings—to bring everything within a static space.
It was to no avail.
Hum.
Hum.
Hum.
In the process of doing so, she dodged several bullets. This time, she saw through their nature. It was similar to the "Zayin" that caused her time to stop.
She was cautious enough to never come close on its trajectories.
A moment later, she was fully enclosed in the dark void. It felt extremely strange with the silver lines forming endless grids. Her insecurity grew stronger, as if she was starting to get filled with countless weak points.
She anticipated some sort of attack to happen… but nothing came. Only Aleph's smile appeared remarkable on her sight.
His teasing look made her eyes widen.
Unfortunately, it was too late for her.
One.
Ten.
Hundred.
Thousand.
…
The once insignificant thoughts the Fourteenth Herrscher ignored popped up en masse. The useless information took up a miniscule fraction of her processing speed, not amounting to a thousandth of her capabilities.
If it was only that, she could handle it.
'Wh—'
The useless information started increasing exponentially. It got to the point when time seemingly stopped in her sight. The sole thing she could see was the endlessly dark void and Aleph's playful look. That image was scalded to her mind countless times.
It remained so for an infinite period of time.
"Is that all?"
His words rang on her ears before an endless purple light slowly engulfed her sight.