"Causality...?"
"This stuff is troublesome to explain clearly in a short time. Sigh, just think of this character as bugged, now erased by the world."
Too lazy to explain further to Caelus, Herta leisurely crossed her legs, pondering. "The question is, who could achieve such a thing? When causality and time are involved, The Hunt and Finality first come to mind. While The Hunt's bullets can lock onto causality, there haven't been reports of them erasing someone's existence. And the walkers of Finality are elusive; there aren't many records of them actively attacking people either..."
"Besides, if that Twilight was truly as powerful as you say, who could easily kill her and make her disappear from causality? Could Lan and Terminus, two Aeons, have acted simultaneously just to kill a Nameless from the Express crew? Even if she was somewhat special, perhaps even a creation of Nous, it's still too absurd. So, analyzing the information you provided earlier, eliminating the impossible answers, the final deduction is—"
Amidst the Express crew's expectant gazes, Herta suddenly stopped. She glanced at the eager Caelus. "Regarding that world with Twilight you mentioned, do you still remember what happened in the very end?"
Since he was seeking help from an intelligent mind, Caelus didn't hide anything, honestly recounting what he still remembered. "Just remember light, and her words to me. Can't recall anything else for some reason... Wait, Herta, have you already figured out what exactly happened?!"
"Tsk, there's this situation too..."
Contrary to the excited Caelus, Herta frowned, running a hand through her hair somewhat irritably, finally waving her hand as if making a decision. "Alright, alright, stop asking. Some things are better left unknown for your own good. Don't waste her painstaking efforts."
"Huh?"
Caelus subconsciously widened his eyes, unable to believe what he heard. More painful than knowing nothing was knowing the truth was right there, yet the person who understood everything refused to tell you the answer.
"Waste painstaking efforts? What does that mean? Herta, what exactly happened to Twilight—"
"Caelus, you and the others go rest outside first. I'll discuss this further with Herta and tell you the results later."
Himeko stopped the increasingly agitated Caelus, signaling Welt and the others with her eyes to take him out first. The room finally returned to quiet.
"Your Astral Express truly cares about companions—well, I didn't mean that in a bad way," Herta sat up straight, blinking at Himeko. "Although this current body is a puppet, even Screwllum's heart isn't as cold and hard as a real machine. Naturally, neither am I. So if you ask me, my answer is also refusal... But knowing you, I estimate you've probably figured it out already?"
"I remember you told me before you had a Curio, a cryo-pod possibly personally crafted by Nous..."
Himeko didn't pick up Herta's thread, instead glancing towards the image in the file nearby. "It should be this one, right?"
Seeing Herta remain noncommittal, Himeko pressed her lips together and continued asking, "Since it was used to store Twilight, then why, with Twilight no longer existing, does it still maintain the state as if Twilight should be inside?"
"Causality sounds terrifying, but it's not entirely without countermeasures. Otherwise, Lan wouldn't need to chase Yaoshi across the universe. Although there's no proof, I suspect the power of Aeons likely has some resistance to this. Since this thing was left behind by an Aeon to preserve something, it's normal for it to have some resistance to causal changes."
Herta shrugged, returning the file to its original place. "Other things, as long as the Aeon's power is sufficient, might also remain unaffected by this change. Or perhaps beings deeply tainted by Nihility, even causality might not affect them—but these are all just my speculations; after all, I haven't experimented. Or perhaps—"
"Or perhaps a Stellaron?" Himeko completed Herta's thought.
Herta raised an eyebrow without saying anything, just nodding quietly.
"I understand... Thank you, Herta."
Seeing Himeko turn to leave, Herta finally couldn't resist asking, "Do you really think letting him figure everything out and remember is a good idea? Under these circumstances, forgetting everything might be much easier."
"The Express crew never abandons companions, even if we temporarily can't remember now... If she's still alive, even in another world, we will bring her back. If she's already gone, then no matter what that ending was, we will remember her... Absolutely cannot, for the sake of making ourselves feel better, forget someone we lived with day in and day out."
"...Hmph, suit yourselves," Herta finally pursed her lips, not stopping Himeko. "Anyway, I won't be the one suffering then."
Without looking back, Himeko walked straight out of Herta's room. Outside the door, the other members of the Express crew were already waiting nervously, especially Caelus, whose eyes barely left the door for a second.
"There are some clues, but nothing is completely certain yet. Let's go, back to the Xianzhou... The answer might be found there."
Beings capable of resisting causal changes might have recorded the world before the alteration, but such existences were clearly few and far between, and those related to Twilight even rarer. The only person they knew who walked upon Nihility was Acheron, but heavens knew where she had wandered off to. Given her sense of direction, perhaps even Acheron herself didn't know where she was.
However, something containing powerful psychic energy, related to a Stellaron, and even having extremely close ties to Twilight—they happened to know of one such thing... And accessing it up close wasn't entirely impossible either.
The Luofu's Ambrosial Arbor.
It was itself a blessing personally bestowed by the Aeon of Abundance; the Aeon's power within was definitely potent enough. Moreover, it had just recently fused with a Stellaron. Although sealed now, the influence might still linger.
Plus, Caelus said he remembered Twilight's new body used the Arbor as base material... While the Arbor itself wasn't some notebook recorder, it was perfectly normal for such powerful entities to carry various information, just like how Caelus saw Jarilo-VI's past history through the Stellaron.
Therefore, by contacting the Ambrosial Arbor, perhaps everything could be figured out... Maybe things wouldn't be as pessimistic as she thought? Himeko could only hope so.
But the problem now was, would the Luofu let them approach the Ambrosial Arbor so easily?
Hmm... Since they were allies, surely General Jing Yuan wouldn't object, right?
After all, sneaking in wouldn't quite fit the Express crew's current glorious image...