Everyone rushed toward Dawncloud.
Along the way, corpses lay everywhere. The tragic sight left even the viewers trembling with fear.
...
: Has the situation already deteriorated this badly?
: Civilians are dying on a massive scale... Why does it feel like even if they beat Aquila, it'll still be like what they were trying to stop came true?
: The apocalypse is really coming...
: There should still be people alive. Tribbie and Trinnon are still fine, after all.
: But aside from the Black Tide, the Flame Reaver are also watching hungrily from the sidelines.
: Damn it. Ever since the plot went out of control, I've had a bad feeling.
...
The apocalypse seemed to have been accelerated, descending in an instant.
This scene made the audience's mood even worse.
After all, they had already lost too many Chrysos Heirs, and the entanglement between the Flame Reaver and Phainon still had not been explained.
And because of the attitude the Flame Reaver had shown when killing Cipher earlier, many viewers were unwilling to believe that Phainon and the Flame Reaver were the same person, or that one was the other's past or future.
...
On screen, Phainon, Stelle, and Dan Heng, the three swept through everything in their path.
The lingering Black Tide monsters in the streets were easily dealt with.
Very soon they arrived at Dawncloud Cliff.
As expected!
Here, everyone saw a large number of survivors.
But although they were alive, the situation was far from optimistic. The Black Tide had also overrun this place.
Those who could still fight had formed a defensive line, letting the elderly, women, and children hide deep within Dawncloud Cliff, while they themselves used corpse after corpse to slow the advance of the Black Tide.
But this was only a drop in the bucket.
What truly turned the situation around and allowed Dawncloud Cliff to maintain its defense was the rainbow light falling from the sky.
These rainbow lights transformed into bubbles one after another, protecting the people within them.
The Black Tide monsters actually seemed unable to do anything to these rainbow bubbles.
It was Hyacine. She was fulfilling her promise.
And the people inside the bubbles also saw Phainon, who had just arrived.
"Lord Phainon."
"It's the gray-haired hero!"
The already exhausted crowd shouted in surprise and joy.
They looked at the arriving group, and in their panicked, despair, filled eyes, a trace of light finally appeared.
Then, a chaotic series of shouts rang out at the same time.
"Lord Phainon, what happened to Okhema?!"
"So the Black Tide was real after all..."
"What should we do now?!"
"Can we still be saved?!"
"..."
Among them were quite a few people who had previously supported the Council.
Only after the Black Tide descended did they realize that those prophecies had not been false, nor were they lies fabricated by the Chrysos Heirs to seize power.
The one who had deceived them was Caenis!
They regretted it deeply.
If they had supported the Chrysos Heirs back then, perhaps the Re-Creation would have been completed long ago.
How could things have reached this point today?
But now, regret was useless. They could only curse the Council of Elders while praying that the Chrysos Heirs could bring about a miracle.
Listening to all these different voices, Phainon took a deep breath and shouted:
"Everyone!"
"I have a mission I must complete! Please wait here! Hide within the rainbow light. Hyacine has already become a demigod of the sky, and is now doing everything she can to protect you all!"
"Trust me! I will definitely bring back the dawn I promised you!"
He had no time to comfort everyone here.
After leaving only those words behind, he departed under the gaze of countless eyes.
From Phainon, the audience could only see overwhelming pressure.
Then, after walking the final short stretch, everyone finally arrived before the council.
At the center of the council, a blue cube was floating in midair, slowly rotating.
"Kephale's Coreflame is being kept in the center."
"We must retrieve it and bring it back to the Vortex of Genesis."
"Worst case scenario... We need to be prepared to return Kephale's Coreflame."
Phainon stared solemnly at the cube floating in the sky.
As for the truth of the miracle that Teacher Anaxa had spoken of, things like cycles, Phainon and the others had originally planned to study it properly, but now time waited for no one. There was no opportunity left.
And then there was the entrustment Aglaea had left him. To leave the choice of Re-Creation to the people of Amphoreus.
Phainon could only apologize in his heart.
"I'm afraid there's no room for doubts now."
Whether it was cycles or something else, in any case, the re-creation had to be completed!
But before that, there was still one person they needed to "deal with."
Caenis.
This leader of the Council of Elders, who had disappeared after assassinating Aglaea, was now kneeling beneath the seal in a daze, murmuring broken prayers.
When she saw Phainon and the others arrive, she raised her head, making no attempt to hide the venom and hatred in her eyes.
"O Sky Father Kephale, please forgive these ignorant and lowly children of humanity..."
"They are so utterly naive that they think of the golden-blooded heretics as Deliverers..."
"This bloodred sky, and the raging flames and demons throughout the land, will purge their foolishness..."
At this point, she suddenly let out a chilling laugh.
"Ah... Lord "Deliverer"?"
"Why don't you join me in praying to the benevolent Kephale...?"
"Cast your eyes on this ravaged land... All of this, sins committed by you blasphemous heretics..."
Caenis had already gone mad.
Of course, Phainon could not remain calm when he saw Caenis.
He had already clenched his fists. The murderer who killed Aglaea was right before his eyes.
How could he not be furious?
But... He was the Deliverer. The publicly recognized perfect one. The one bearing the world on his shoulders.
At a time like this, compared to the Coreflame before him, Caenis was worth nothing.
His so, called anger was nothing before the re-creation.
Phainon closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said:
"I'll go undo the seal. Wait here for a moment."
He came before the Coreflame Casket. The method to undo the seal was something only the Council of Elders possessed.
In other words, people like Caenis.
But what Teacher Anaxa had taught Phainon was not only academics, but also things outside the textbooks.
Following the secret technique that had already been prepared, Phainon unlocked the Coreflame Casket before him.
However... When the cube opened, there was no trace of the Coreflame inside at all, only a pottery jar!
After losing the restraint of the seal, the jar fell to the ground under everyone's shocked gazes and shattered into fragments.
"Hah... Hahah..."
Caenis' mocking laughter rang out from the side.
She staggered to her feet, laughing as she said:
"If the Coreflame was never tampered with, and has always remained here untouched..."
"You all think... I wouldn't have the power to take it away?"
Rage appeared on Phainon's face almost instantly. But what was astonishing was that this rage was quickly suppressed by him.
He swiftly restrained his emotional impulses, forcing himself to remain absolutely calm.
Phainon's behavior at a moment like this once again made the audience feel that he was frighteningly impressive.
They listened to Caenis' mocking laughter, and fury was already burning in their hearts. They wished they could cut Caenis down on the spot.
Yet Phainon was able to remain calm the entire time. What the hell kind of talent was this?
"Calm down. Stay calm."
Amid that irritating laughter, Phainon took a deep breath, his thoughts racing rapidly.
Soon, his eyes lit up as he recalled what Cipher had said before leaving.
"I'll do my job, so you..."
"Need to make sure you don't die before you pay me."
Thinking of this, Phainon immediately looked toward Stelle. "...There's no need to worry about the Coreflame's whereabouts. Let's just descend the mountain."
Before Stelle and Dan Heng could even recall what he meant, Caenis's laughter became even more wild.
Behind her, at some unknown point, a group of Black Tide monsters had appeared.
"Go to hell with me, you golden blood bastards!"
"Before I die, none of you are leaving this place!"
Caenis spread her arms and stared madly at Phainon. Her twisted gaze looked as if she wanted to tear him apart and devour him alive.
"You heretics who should never have been born into this world!"
"The apocalypse, it's all because of you!"
"Aglaea died because-"
Pfft!
Caenis' words suddenly stopped halfway through.
At some point, Phainon had already arrived in front of her and pierced through her abdomen with the weapon in his hand.
"Urgh… guh…" Blood surged from Caenis' throat, cutting off the words she still wanted to say.
The blade in her abdomen slowly turned, then was pulled out with a sharp swish.
With that motion, Caenis's strength vanished completely.
In the final scene of her life, she met Phainon's eyes.
In the pupils of this Chrysos Heir, she saw no pleasure of revenge, nor any negative emotion.
There was only calm. It was as if Phainon had killed her simply because she had stood in his way and obstructed his goal.
That indifference, that attitude no different from stepping on an ant, made Caenis feel a chill colder than death itself.
She, who had always thought so highly of herself, was not even worth as much as an empty goal.
Aglaea had actually called someone like this a savior? All she saw was a born executioner.
The severe pain in her abdomen gradually faded away, and along with it, Caenis' thoughts rapidly disappeared.
At the very end, one thought emerged in her heart. Assassinating Aglaea had truly been a terrible mistake.
All these years, her gaze had been fixed on Aglaea, yet she had ignored the people around her.
Even this plain, looking boy was so decisive. These people were probably ones only Aglaea could suppress.
By killing Aglaea, she had undoubtedly released fierce beasts from their cage.
Darkness gradually swallowed everything. Caenis's final trace of thought scattered with the wind.
Her body slowly fell. She collapsed onto the ground, no longer making a sound.
Blood gathered beneath her into a river.Phainon did not even spare her another glance.
"Let's go... It's time to leave this place."
Stelle and Dan Heng each glanced at Caenis on the ground, then followed him and rushed out.
While the few of them cleared out the Black Tide monsters, the audience's emotions were hard to calm.
Although Caenis had now fallen into eternal sleep, the way she died was so plain that it made people furious!
...
: She died from just one stab?! Holy shit!!!
: She has to be cut into a thousand pieces! What the hell! That beast got off way too easy!
: Can someone kick her for me?! Phainon! Why did you just leave?!
: She's so fucking vile, that stupid bitch. Even in the apocalypse, she still wanted to take away Kephale's Coreflame and make trouble for everyone. What absolute trash!
: Dying like this is way too easy for her!
: Sigh! But there's no helping it. Phainon's side has no time at all!
: Honestly, Phainon stabbing her and avenging Aglaea can be considered the end of this matter. The urgent priority right now is still recreating the world.
: No! Why should that be enough?! Wuwuwuwu! We were hurt by Aglaea for so long! How can Caenis only get one stab?!
…
The audience wished they could use every torture in the world on Caenis.
But what was done was done. Compared to Caenis, recreating the world was the truly important goal.
The Black Tide monsters surrounding everyone were easily dealt with.
"Dan Heng."
"Do you still have any spiritual water?" Standing among the corpses of the Black Tide monsters, Phainon asked anxiously.
"Spiritual water?"
"No." Dan Heng shook his head. "Ever since the Black Tide began expanding more and more, the connection between me and the waters of Amphoreus has been cut off."
"…"
"Then there's no other way. We'll have to run down."
Phainon shook his head.
The replica of the Chalice was still inside the Marmoreal Palace.
Only by relying on that could they enter the Vortex of Genesis. Who could have expected that the more urgent time became, the more accidents would arise?
The three of them had no choice but to continue rushing toward the entrance of Dawncloud.
Fortunately, along the way, they did not encounter any more monsters blocking the road.
Just as they reached the edge and were about to leave, an extra shadow suddenly appeared beneath everyone's feet.
At the same time, a familiar yet ominous aura also began spreading through the surroundings.
Phainon stopped and slowly turned back.
Under the dim yellow light of the apocalypse, he once again saw the Flame Reaver.
A black, robed cloak, a great sword in hand.
Just like when they first met, his figure was surrounded by a shadow, dyed by the dim yellow glow around him.
"In the end... they still showed up."
Phainon murmured softly, the look in his eyes becoming heavier.
Before heading to the sky, Cipher's mission had included holding back the Flame Reaver.
But now, the Flame Reaver was right in front of him.
And Cipher was nowhere to be seen.
"Now's not the time for a fight..." Stelle for a change, reminded him from the side.
"I agree..."
"I've been waiting for a chance to face them head-on..."
"But not now... If we take the fight here, then lose... the consequences would be irreversible."
Phainon forcefully suppressed all the ominous thoughts in his heart.
As Phainon said, if they failed here, then all their previous efforts would truly be wasted.