Judging from this scene, it should be another memory fragment related to Cipher.
She had already succeeded, taking a dazzling gemstone out of the box in front of her.
But did that matter?
At a time like this, the audience, whose excitement had only been built halfway up, felt as if they had been left hanging. Their emotions had reached the peak, but had not yet been fully released.
They still wanted to discuss what had just happened.
Not only the battle, performance, and sound effects that had once again broken through the peak, but also the emotions that had been foreshadowed since the very first episode.
The story of every Chrysos Heir, the Flame-Chase Journey built upon these characters, and the aftermath of the victory.
The audience had followed the Chrysos Heirs step by step through all of this, and their sense of immersion and empathy had also reached an unprecedented peak.
So, for the audience, this climactic battle carried stronger emotions than any previous boss fight.
It symbolized the end point of the Flame-Chase Journey and of all the Chrysos Heirs.
Moreover, between Hyacine and Seliose, there was also a clash between the people's view of history and the heroic view of history.
This kind of profound philosophical thought had likewise been fused into this battle.
There was simply too much to say. They truly could not understand why, at this point, the scene had to cut away.
It made a battle that could originally have ended perfectly become filled with regret.
...
"...Ah, I finally found it!"
"It must be this! The Gem of All Worlds that the Chaplain secretly stashed away, said to be a fragment peeled from the Dawn Device..."
Cipher's delighted voice once again pulled the audience's attention back to the screen.
Although there was a lot they wanted to say, at this moment, the audience still kept watching.
They wanted to see just how important Cipher's story was, that it could surpass this battle.
On the screen, Cipher brought her nose close to the gemstone and sniffed it lightly.
That unique scent made Cipher's pupils turn into little pointed stars.
"Sniff... sniff..."
"Heh, I can already catch the sweet scent of treasure seeping from this little box."
Cipher giggled and muttered to herself, "So much for the Chaplain's devotion to faith, it turns out he's just been padding his secret stash..."
"I've been lurking in the Priestly Court for over half a year just for this little trinket! Day after day, listening to those stiff priest apprentices drone on with their prayers. I thought I was going to lose my mind..."
"Good thing persistence pays off, heh..."
After complaining a few times, Cipher put away the gemstone and prepared to slip away.
Suddenly, her ears twitched, and she heard a sound coming from next door.
It was an old and aged voice, breathing rapidly, sounding as if its owner did not have long to live.
"Atti... Atticus... is that you?"
Hearing this, Cipher's eyes shifted.
What the heck! The Chaplain next door was already about to die of old age, and he could still detect if someone entered the room?
But her stealth skills were already unrivaled. Could this old man really hear her? Did he still have some more treasures?
Thoughts spun quickly through her mind, and Cipher suddenly felt playful.
'Atticus? That name rings a bell... Oh, he's the apprentice the Chaplain favors most, the one everyone expects to be the next Chaplain...?'
'Not saying anything would feel awkward... maybe I can hold it together with Zagreus's ability for now?'
Cipher thought this to herself. Then, with a shake of her body, she transformed into a tall, refined-looking man.
'Now... I am Atticus.'
The corner of Cipher's mouth curved upward. Although she had changed into another person's appearance, that little expression and those little eyes were still full of excitement.
"Atti...cus? Why aren't you... responding...?"
The elderly Chaplain spoke again, panting.
"Old... ahem, Chaplain, it's me. I'm here to assist you with your medicine."
Cipher's voice had also changed into Atticus's voice.
It was just her first time playing the role, so she almost let something slip and almost called the chaplain old man.
But the Chaplain did not notice this small mistake at all.
"Ah... thank you. Without your care, I would've long been claimed by Thanatos and carried to the River of Souls..."
After saying only a few words, the Chaplain had to stop to catch his breath.
After patiently listening to all this nonsense, Cipher replied, "Oh... no need to thank me, master. It's my duty to care for you while you recover."
The Chaplain did not continue exchanging pleasantries.
Although Cipher could not see what the Chaplain looked like at this moment through the wall, from his tone, Cipher could still tell that the Chaplain was afraid of something.
"Atticus... I can feel my life slipping away, fading faster with every moment. I don't know when eternal sleep will claim me..."
"There's one last thing I must tell you..."
Cipher, who had originally been listening out of boredom, immediately brightened up and thought to herself: 'One last thing? Wait... is he hiding more treasures? Maybe a "Coin of Whimsy"!? Today might just be my lucky day!'
'Ahem, calm down, Cifera... Just breathe.'
Cipher was excited inside, but on the surface she appeared even steadier.
"Stay strong, Chaplain. Keep your spirits up and don't lose hope."
"If there's anything important you need to say... I'm all ears."
The dying Chaplain finally felt a little more at ease, and at last he could speak:
"Ah... it's so disgraceful that it fills me with shame. Yet, I must speak... for it concerns the fate of our holy city below my feet."
Hearing this, Cipher frowned and suddenly realized that what the Chaplain wanted to say was not the same as what she had imagined.
'What? The fate of the city's people? Is it that serious? I must find out more...'
She wanted to hear what exactly this was about.
Then, she heard the Chaplain's words:
"The omniscient sky father, Kephale, before they fell silent... I heard their last words at Dawncloud..."
"It announced: The prophecy has arrived, my mission has concluded, and I shall return to silence..."
Cipher rolled her eyes.
'Oh, the Prophecy of Genesis. The Titan turned to stone... Heard it a thousand times. Old news. What else you got?'
"The eternal night is looming, but over the next three hundred years, the Dawn Device will safeguard the holy city, poised for the children of humanity to create miracles..."
The Chaplain was still saying those stale, worn-out lines. Cipher could only nod impatiently.
'Mmhmm, the Dawn Device, the miracle of Genesis, the usual clichés...'
Cipher's cat ears suddenly stood upright, 'Wait, did he just say... "the next three hundred years"?'
Cipher's eyes suddenly widened. But the Chaplain continued:
"I... have concealed the deadline the sky father set for everyone..."
"I lacked the courage to carve the countdown to the city's new dawn into the hearts of its people..."
"Atticus, you... are a hundred times more courageous than I am. Can you accomplish... what I could not?"
"Will you share this harsh truth... with all the citizens of Okhema?"
Cipher fell silent. Her face was filled with shock.
But under the Chaplain's anxious questioning, she soon came back to herself, pursed her lips, and gave her answer:
"Rest easy, master. I will shoulder this heavy burden for you... I'll address the fallout of your indecision."
Just like Cipher, the audience, who had been full of confusion only moments ago, was now frantically digesting this truth.
Judging by the decorations in the shot, at this point, Cipher should not yet have left Okhema.
In other words, the time being shown was a thousand years ago.
But the Chaplain had said that the Dawn Machine could only run for three hundred years.
The timeline did not match at all. Subconsciously, they began to immerse themselves in it, thinking furiously.
...
: In other words, this world should have ended seven hundred years ago.
: But ever since we arrived in Okhema, it feels like nobody there knew about this at all?!
: Cipher never told the citizens the truth!? She deceived everyone?!
: But the Prophecy should not be wrong, right?
: Could Cipher have used some method to repair the Dawn Machine?!
: If that is the case... then suddenly inserting this segment here is not impossible to understand.
: The battle in the sky is the end of the Flame-Chase, the final full stop for all the Chrysos Heirs. Cipher is clearly one of them too.
: This is telling us that Cipher also did a lot for Okhema, and for the Flame-Chase journey, right?
: Cipher has always been all bark and no bite, an absolute tsundere.
: I feel like there should be more to it than that.
: I still believe MiHoYo would not cut the story randomly. This kind of unconventional method must mean there is something important that absolutely has to be told.
: But I really cannot think of anything more important than this maxed-out boss fight.
.....
Information from a thousand years ago successfully made the audience understand this sudden cut.
And everyone had a premonition that something even bigger was still to come.
But no matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not guess what that "something bigger" could possibly be.
The audience was busy burning their brains with speculation, but they also overlooked many details.
For example, how Cipher had repaired the Dawn Machine.
···
On screen, the memory ended there.
In the darkness, only Cipher's monologue remained.
"Is that right, Seamstress? "Everyone in this world is unique in their own way...""
"My moment to be a hero... has finally arrived."
The voice disappeared.
The screen lit up again. In the shot, there was only Cipher, proudly recounting:
"...And that was my stint as a priest at Dawncloud. Sure, the story's been slightly embellished, but every word of it is true."
"These are secrets that must remain undisclosed. I've never shared them with anyone, not even Bartholos."
"You should feel incredibly honored to be the first to hear this."
The camera suddenly shifted, revealing the people Cipher had been speaking to.
They were Cleaners lying sprawled all over the ground.
Cipher looked at her own handiwork. A smug smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Honestly, I'm surprised at your persistence..."
"I merely staged a slip-up for you to witness the switch of the Coreflame... Who'd have thought you'd follow me all the way to the Nethershore?"
"That Deliverer kid was spot-on. You rejects, shunned by the Okhemans, have no choice but to keep moving down this dark path..."
The victorious Cipher mocked them without any courtesy.
Then she began searching around. If Caenis remained in Okhema, she would also be a disaster.
If Cipher could find Caenis' whereabouts from these people, then she might as well deal with her while she was at it.
That would count as helping those little kids a bit too.
Just as Cipher was happily looting the bodies, she suddenly looked warily toward the door.
A familiar and ominous aura was rapidly approaching.
"Oh! You made it? I've been waiting for you!"
The corner of Cipher's mouth curled up. Her figure suddenly vanished.
"Black-clad swordmaster, the Flame Reaver, whatever your name is-"
"Look at you, sniffing around like a starving hyena... chasing the scent of the Coreflames!"
Cipher spoke looking at the guest in front of her.
Opposite Cipher, the Flame Reaver stood beneath the night sky, staring fixedly at her.
"Throne of Worlds... Coreflame..."
"Must... take back..."
A hoarse voice came from beneath the mask.
The Flame Reaver! The audience, who had been saying one thing while feeling another, immediately sat up straight the moment they saw the Flame Reaver.
Holy crap. This was worth sitting up for!
No wonder the scene had to cut away.
It really made sense! The story on the Flame Reaver's side had not ended yet.
Although everything about him carried very obvious clues, the audience had still been waiting for the moment when the truth would be unveiled.
If the Flame-Chase journey was truly about to be given its final full stop, then this person was also an unavoidable obstacle!
Could it be that... the cycle, Phainon, the Flame Reaver, and all those obvious clues were finally going to be pieced together today?
....
After seeing the Flame Reaver, Cipher showed no fear. Instead, she let out a sneer through her nose.
"You sad little thing, I've got you all figured out!"
"Let me guess, you've been eyeing these last two Coreflames all along, huh?"
"No wings, no allies... what a pity. Even with Aquila's Coreflame sitting idly in the sky, you're helpless to reach it."
"All you can do is sit and wait for the Chrysos Heirs to bring it down, then swoop in like a brute to snatch it for yourself, isn't that so?"
Faced with Cipher's ridicule, the Flame Reaver responded with silence.
But Cipher had no intention of stopping there.
"Hah! Struck a nerve, have I? I've seen you lingering on a cliff more than once, staring hopelessly at the sky. Pathetic."
"But hey, I'm feeling generous today, I've got a surprise just for you."
As she said this, Cipher raised her left hand.
"...That's right! I have Kephale's Coreflame."
"But if you think you can snatch it from my claws..."
"...you'll have to catch me!"
Cipher deliberately waved the Coreflame in her hand, then turned and walked into a building.
The way she looked was just like someone walking a dog. And the Flame Reaver, as always, had eyes only for that Coreflame.
Inside the building, Cipher stretched lazily. She was just about to loosen up her body and properly walk the dog later, when her gaze suddenly froze.
The Flame Reaver, who had just been outside, had somehow already appeared silently in front of her!