The comments filling the screen went completely blank.
The audience could hardly believe what they were seeing. They even forgot to send comments.
The golden blood spilling from Cipher's mouth and nose looked especially glaring at that moment.
Just one blow, the Flame Reaver had only struck once, and Cipher was already severely injured.
Cipher's hands hung weakly in front of her. Every time she coughed, she spat out mouthfuls of golden blood, splattering it all over herself.
How could this happen? Hadn't Cipher been holding the upper hand just now?
And yet... how had she been beaten into this state with just one hit?
That coin, was it really that important?! She had to go back and get it?!
The audience's minds went blank.
Instinctively, they began hoping for a reversal. They hoped this scene was actually one of Cipher's tricks, that she was teasing the Flame Reaver again.
But the piercing sound of her coughing only grew more painful to hear, and the mood that had just been lifted was quickly dragged back down.
The twists that Star Rail had always used most often, and was best at, did not appear this time.
Only then did they recall the most crucial thing in the scene just now.
The coin... the Coin of Whimsy had already been foreshadowed earlier, when it carried Stelle and Castorice to Styxia.
But at that time, the audience had merely taken it as some sort of character quirk.
They had not thought too deeply about it. But now, another piece of information surfaced as well.
Cipher herself had once revealed that the power of a demigod of trickery was to make lies become truth.
Suddenly, the logic became clear. More clues and blind spots followed one after another.
For example, as a demigod of trickery, why did Cipher possess something like divine speed, a power that clearly did not seem to belong to that category, instead of abilities related to schemes and manipulation?
And why was the Coin of Whimsy always visible every time Cipher activated that divine speed?
These clues, buried throughout the entire plotline and never deeply considered by the audience before, all connected together at this moment.
....
: Divine speed... was actually a lie.
: According to the description of the authority of trickery, as long as everyone believed Cipher had divine speed, then she would truly possess divine speed.
: The Coin of Whimsy seems to be some kind of medium used to achieve that effect.
: So after the Flame Reaver grabbed the Coin of Whimsy, Cipher had to go back. No matter how fast she was... she absolutely had to retrieve the coin. Otherwise, once the lie was exposed, the power would stop working?
: The coin is the real body.
: Wait, then how did the Flame Reaver know?!
: Cipher had been teasing the Flame Reaver for so long, but one careless move lost her the whole game.
: I'm going numb. Cipher isn't going to die, right?! At a time like this!
: No!!
....
The audience's hearts had already sunk to the bottom.
They no longer even had the energy to be shocked by how absurd Cipher's power was, or by how the Flame Reaver knew such a secret.
Because all these clues were clearly telling them that Cipher had truly been gravely wounded.
This was not a joke, nor a trick. At the same time, the prophecy once again surfaced in everyone's minds.
[You shall walk with greed, and die over petty change...]
In an instant, amid fear and panic, the audience's hearts sank completely into despair.
That powerless feeling before fate once again followed them like a shadow.
Trianne, Mydei, Aglaea, whether these people accepted the prophecy or tried to rebel against it, in the end, they all walked toward the ending the prophecy had set for them.
And Cipher had spent her entire life desperately going against the prophecy.
She stole vast amounts of treasure, yet used all sorts of excuses and methods to scatter it among others.
That was her way of fighting against the greed written in the prophecy. She distributed treasure to everyone, yet kept some behind to fill her own little treasury.
That was to keep herself from falling into the miserable situation of risking everything for a single coin.
Everything she did was in defiance of the prophecy. But today, because of the Coin of Whimsy, she had fallen into a desperate situation.
It perfectly confirmed the final line of the prophecy. She would perish for petty change.
....
: The prophecy came true again...
: A single coin... so it was referring to the Coin of Whimsy. Who could have thought of that?!
: Cipher has probably realized this too.
: It's over. This time, it's really over.
: Is this why they had to switch perspectives?! miHoYo!!
: Holy shit, I really feel so awful and powerless right now...
: No matter how much they struggle, they'll ultimately head toward the destined ending. Then what meaning did Cipher's entire life even have?!
: Exactly. If everything comes true anyway, then they might as well let the prophecy decide Amphoreus' ending too. No one needs to struggle anymore!
: I want a reversal! miHoYo! I want the reversal you're best at! I'm begging you!
.....
The audience completely broke down.
Defeating the Sky Titan had clearly been so exhilarating. Hyacine's resistance against the past and against fate had brought such power.
But now, because of Cipher, a bucket of cold water had immediately been poured over them.
That omnipresent prophecy seemed to be mocking them.
Stop struggling. Everything is destined.
...
On screen, Cipher painfully clutched her throat, her expression twisted.
The Flame Reaver stood in front of her, holding Kephale's Coreflame in his right hand and examining it carefully.
With that strike just now, he had not only beaten Cipher half to death, but had also taken the Coreflame from her in passing.
But just then, Cipher clutched her throat and said with difficulty, "Only a mindless fool... would fall for the same trick three times in a row."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Coreflame in the Flame Reaver's hand turned back into a clay jar.
"Heh... cough, cough... hehe." Cipher wanted to laugh.
But the pain coming from her throat twisted her face into a grimace. The laugh she forced out was mixed with both agony and smugness.
It made her look even more pitiful.
But even in this state, she still endured the pain and pulled the corners of her mouth into a grin. She raised her head to look at the Flame Reaver and said with difficulty, "...Victory is mine, fiend!"
Golden blood kept spilling from the corners of her mouth, and the pain on her face never disappeared.
But the smugness in her eyes could not be hidden no matter what.
Even at a time like this, Cipher still maintained her cunning.
The Flame Reaver crushed the jar in one hand and walked up to Cipher.
Whether he had been shaken or something else, the Flame Reaver did not speak in those incomprehensible riddles this time. He simply raised the great sword in his hand.
Just as he was about to swing it down, the image suddenly flickered.
The screen changed to display a mural.
Recorded above is the story from a thousand years ago, when Cipher, acting as Atticus, proclaimed an oracle to the people.
In the mural, Cipher wore the noble robes of a high priest, [unclear text], with the gold beneath her feet and the ears revealed from within the bright border.
And before her were citizens prostrating themselves one after another, kneeling on the ground as they listened to the oracle.
"To all citizens of Okhema, today, I bring you two pieces of news: one sorrowful, one joyous."
"First, let us offer our blessings to the departed. Our beloved Chaplain Phoros has returned to the embrace of Sky Father Kephale. May he rest in peace..."
Still in Atticus's disguise, Cipher spoke to the people.
"But citizens, do not grieve his passing! In his final moments, Chaplain Phoros found peace. While he still had his wits, he heard the final words of the sky father..."
"And that brings me to the joyous news I share with you today! Before the great Worldbearing Titan fell silent, they spoke one final message to my revered mentor. And now, I shall share those words with every soul in Amphoreus!"
"They said: "The prophecy has arrived. My mission is complete, and now I shall fall into eternal silence...""
"The eternal night is looming, the Dawn Device will safeguard the holy city, poised for the children of humanity to create miracles... forever!"
Forever?! The citizens could hardly believe their ears.
Someone confirmed in disbelief, "Until... forever?"
And someone else had already grown excited: "Sky father's love transcends time itself, stretching across endless eons!"
The crowd began to cheer. They felt that their future was filled with light.
Cipher continued to bring confidence to the people. She said:
"Citizens, friends! As the newly appointed Chaplain, I propose we host a grand hundred-day celebration at Dawncloud, a feast in gratitude for the sky father's gift!"
"Our mission is to transform the sky father's words into unshakable faith. For a hundred dawns, through song and dance, every child of humanity within Amphoreus will come to believe —"
"The light of the Dawn Device never fades... Kephale's protection has no end!"
With that final sentence, Atticus's voice and Cipher's voice rang out together.
This was the truth of the Dawn Machine. The answer the audience had not received before was now laid bare before them.
The future of Amphoreus, which should have ended long ago, had been forcibly extended by Cipher through this carefully woven lie!
This information exploded in the minds of the audience like a thunderclap. Once again, they experienced an extreme surge of emotion.
All sorts of thoughts emerged in their minds. There were too many directions to think in.
For a moment, they did not even know where to begin. Cipher had used a lie to continue Amphoreus' future.
Her contradictory, torn-apart life and the answer Aglaea never received, even until death.
In the end, all these thoughts converged into one emotion. A feeling of shock so intense it made them tremble.
They could hardly imagine that the frail young girl on the screen had carried so many things on her shoulders.
At this moment, the audience's minds could do nothing except absorb the information.
The screen returned back.
They could only watch as the dying Cipher leaned against the wall on the screen.
Her gaze grew dimmer and dimmer as she murmured to herself:
"You shall walk with greed, and die over petty change..."
"Ha, the prophecy's "petty change"..."
"Was quite literal, after all..."
"Atticus... He's a good kid..."
"I stole your identity... I... owe you an apology..."
As she murmured, the clever, mischievous expression vanished from Cipher's face, leaving only melancholy and regret.
She thought sadly:
"But I owe more than just an apology... There's also you, Agy..."
She ignored the Flame Reaver standing before her with a raised blade and looked toward the cloudy sky.
In a daze, she seemed to see a nymph lying on the steps not far away.
Was it an illusion? Or was she using trickery to deceive herself?
None of that mattered. At the end of her life, she needed something to cling to, something that would let her say all the words that had settled in her heart for hundreds of years.
"Back then, I... I had to leave Okhema..."
"You see, you were so good at reading hearts... if I had stayed by your side..."
"My fragile lies... would have been exposed sooner or later."
Yes. This was the warmest, and also the cruelest, truth. Cipher left Aglaea and resisted Aglaea not because she did not love her.
It was to maintain the lie, the safeguard the city.
That responsibility was too heavy. It allowed no room for the slightest mistake.
So even when Aglaea was assassinated, Cipher did not dare go back.
Only after indirectly seeing Aglaea one last time through the nymph did she attend Aglaea's funeral.
Cipher murmured to herself.
But by then, more breath was leaving her mouth than entering it.
Her eyes grew more and more unfocused.
At some point, the nymph before her had turned into Aglaea, standing with her back to Cipher.
Upon seeing Agy, Cipher's voice completely broke, turning choked with sobs:
"Your weave shop... I wish... I could chance upon it again, just once..."
"To be scolded by you and Tribbie..."
"Ah... I'm sorry..."
"In the end... I... I overestimated myself..."
She loved Aglaea. Because that beautiful, noble woman had never hated her nature, and had let her feel the care she had lacked during her years of wandering.
Yet just as that feeling reached its deepest point, it was crushed beyond repair because of a theft.
In the days that followed, Cipher could only suppress that feeling inside herself, not daring to reveal even the slightest trace of it.
When she saw Aglaea suffering because of her distance, how could her own heart not have felt the same?
This was her greatest regret and guilt: staying away from the dearest person in this world to her and making her sad.
When the other person was dying and begged to hear a reason, a truth, Cipher could only harden her heart and put on an indifferent attitude to brush it off.
She feared that the slightest softness at the very end would cause everything to fall apart.
And with that, Cipher's final monologue completely broke the audience.
The comments collapsed into chaos, filled with grief and cries of sorrow.