"Shoulder the entire world?"
Hearing Dolimem's words, Phainon felt his mind descend into confusion.
Just how much did someone have to shoulder to deserve the title of Deliverer? Why had fate entrusted such a heavy burden to him?
"And that is not all. What you see are futures written in the cards. Or rather, the people you'll meet on your journey."
Cyrene's voice carried a hint of prophecy.
"Oracles... Prophecies... Ah, I really can't make sense of any of it."
Phainon took a deep breath and looked helplessly at the cards, but then something suddenly occurred to him.
"But..."
"Didn't you say disaster would strike Amphoreus? If so, shouldn't Cyrene and I stay in Aedes Elysiae? How could we possibly meet all these people?"
Although he was against the Deliverer card, Phainon understood very well what being a Deliverer meant.
But if Aedes Elysiae faced danger, he would stay here without a moment's hesitation. Either he would live on alongside Aedes Elysiae, or he would die with it.
How could he possibly set out on a journey and meet those people? He would never leave in the first place.
The meaning of the Deliverer card simply did not seem to fit.
"This calamity is what sets you on your journey."
Stelle, who was watching everything, still had no intention of behaving like an observer and could not help speaking up.
Hearing this, something stirred in Phainon's heart.
"If that's true, then... who will protect everyone in Aedes Elysiae?"
He raised his head and looked at Cyrene.
"Cyrene, may I have that "Deliverer" card?"
Cyrene paused.
"Of course. But why?"
Phainon answered frankly, "Although everything it foretells still feels far too distant for me,"
"I can't ignore the sense that something is calling me, bidding me to take hold of it. Maybe... its true weight can only be known once it's in my grasp."
Cyrene asked no more questions. She selected the Deliverer card from the oracle card book and handed it to Phainon.
The thin piece of paper settled into his hand. Phainon had expected it to feel exceptionally heavy, but it was unexpectedly light.
Even so, he would remember today's prophecy.
With that, they had obtained the oracle card album. Whether it was Cyrene's strange dream or this divination, their trip today had at least brought some answers.
"Village Chief, in that case, we'll be going now." Cyrene spoke, preparing to bid the old village chief farewell.
But just then, an enormous, muffled boom erupted.
The entire cavern began to shake! The violent tremors nearly sent both Phainon and Cyrene tumbling to the ground!
This sudden change also made the audience's hearts skip a beat!
Warmth and peace were forever side stories in Amphoreus. Sacrifice might achieve nothing, and devotion might bear bitter fruit.
Optimism and positive action did not necessarily lead to a happy ending. In this illusory world, calamity arrived as promised.
"E—Everyone, we've got big trouble memi!"
Once the shaking had eased a little, Relimem's breathless cries came from the distance. Even the heavy nasal tone could not conceal Relimem's terror.
"What... what's happening?" Cyrene pushed herself up from the ground and hurriedly asked.
"Burning... smoke everywhere... It's all coming from beyond the Maze!"
Relimem flew over to the others and spoke in a panic.
"It's here... The seeds of disaster have already taken hold, sooner than we had foreseen."
"This time... not even the Veil of Evernight can shield us."
The shocked village chief once again confirmed the severity of the disaster. But upon hearing this, Phainon's pupils immediately contracted.
"Y—You mean... Aedes Elysiae will be swept up in the prophesied catastrophe?"
Dolimem nodded gently.
Phainon felt his head spin. This had never happened before!
In the past, no matter how fierce the fighting outside became, Aedes Elysiae had always remained untouched and apart from the world.
Never had a catastrophe begun in Aedes Elysiae...
"My children, take shelter in the Membrance Maze. One step outside and this horror will consume you both."
The village chief spoke urgently.
Aedes Elysiae was special, but the Maze was even more so. The village chief was still confident that the two children could survive if they hid here.
"But my parents... the whole village..." Phainon struggled painfully.
Cyrene, however, was focused on something else, the calamity itself.
"Are we facing the Three Titans of Calamity?" Cyrene could not understand.
"This is beyond any Titan, beyond any danger you could overcome with strategy alone."
Fear flickered in Dolimem's cloudy eyes as she explained to Cyrene.
"It's an unspeakable horror that twists all life into abominations that never bleed nor cry. Even Titans fall to its corruption, burning from within until only empty shells remain, knowing only death and destruction..."
"The "black tide." That's what this calamity truly is. It consumes all in its path, sparing none but the Membrance Maze."
"Not even Titans can..." Phainon was even more shocked. He could scarcely imagine what kind of disaster it could be.
"Yes. So please, don't leave this forgotten realm the gods abandoned, you are the first to uncover our presence, and the only two who can enter the Maze..."
"We... don't wish for you to throw your lives away." Dolimem's voice grew quiet toward the end.
The fairies were kind by nature, but they were also particularly realistic. They lacked the power to protect the outside world, but they could protect the two people right before them.
A terrifying calamity... An unknown thing they could not fight.
Now even Cyrene wavered, instinctively turning to Phainon.
"We... Phainon... what path do we take?" Meeting Cyrene's gaze, Phainon dazedly placed a hand over his chest.
He did not know what to do either.
Although he had dreamed of becoming a hero since childhood, when that day truly arrived, he realized he did not possess a hero's decisiveness.
"Listen to your heart. Protect those who must be protected."
A voice suddenly arose in Phainon's heart.
It was the nameless hero. The struggle and hesitation in Phainon's eyes gradually gave way to resolve.
"...I learned the sword to protect those close to me. If I run now... I'll never be worthy of lifting a blade again."
Cyrene, too, drew a deep breath.
"Then we know what we must do."
The two exchanged a glance. Phainon turned to the village chief and said apologetically, "Forgive me, Chief! But Aedes Elysiae needs us... and as her child, I must act!"
"Even without a sword, I'll take a rake! Even with the roughest steel, I'll keep our home safe!"
He had already accepted the Deliverer card. If he couldn't even protect his own hometown, what right did he have to live up to that title?
When Phainon hesitated, he would agonize and struggle. But once he made up his mind, he would press onward without looking back.Dolimem let out a long sigh. She could feel Phainon's resolve.
"...Very well. Make sure you protect yourselves."
...
: I knew it. The peace we saw earlier was bound to be shattered sooner or later.
: He'll protect others even if all he has is a hoe. What kind of person must he be at his core? Aaaah, this hurts so much!!
: Does he have any idea what he'll go through once he leaves? His companions dying one after another, dawn nowhere in sight... Even after becoming Kephale, he'll still have to endure a hopeless struggle with no end!
: He's suffered so much, sob sob!!
: Sigh... Even though I know all this has already happened, I can't help wondering what would have happened if Phainon hadn't chosen to leave and had hidden here instead.
: A lot of the time, Phainon seems like an ordinary person who struggles and hesitates. But whenever an important decision comes, he always makes a choice that runs contrary to that hesitant side of him.
: That must be why he drew the Deliverer card.
: It's also because Phainon is someone with a truly loving and accepting heart. His hesitation can't stop him from making choices that stay true to who he is.
: If this memory were replayed countless times, would there be even one time when Phainon chose to stay here and hide instead of going out?
: Who knows? But I think that if it happened enough times, there would eventually be one or two occasions when Phainon made a different choice.
: If that ever happens, I just hope he can live a good life and stop suffering so much.
...
It was precisely at times like these that Phainon's character shone through most clearly.
Words weren't needed. His actions alone were enough to let the audience feel his spirit.
But watching such him set off without hesitation down a road that would leave him battered and broken, while being powerless to stop him, made it all the more painful for the audience.
The wishful speculation in the comments about what might have happened if Phainon had never left was also an expression of their hope that he could live a good life.
But no one knew. That hypothetical question would receive a clear answer in the future.
...
On screen.
Phainon and Cyrene bid farewell to Dolimem and set off into the distance.
Cyrene followed closely behind Phainon, watching his figure ahead as thoughts raced through her mind.
At that moment, she suddenly understood the deeper meaning behind the Deliverer card.
A Deliverer was not someone perfect from the start, standing high above, casting merciful gazes upon the world....
But one who starts small, from a humble village, expanding their "world within" step by step, learning to save others as they grow...
When Cyrene was little, she had once said this to Phainon, "I hope this world will never need a Deliverer."
But when calamity arrived and shattered that hope, Cyrene was grateful that Phainon was willing to walk this path.
"And all of this..."
As Cyrene walked, the look in her eyes suddenly changed. Without stopping, she turned her head and looked at Stelle, who had remained standing where she was.
"...happened because you believed in him, friend."
"Shall we? It's only when you're by our side that Phainon and I... that our hearts find their courage."
"I know you're watching us right now... aren't you, "Great Hero" from the future?"
Stelle stood motionless. She saw Cyrene's gaze and heard what she called her.
My friend... But she could neither respond nor move. Because that elusive Intellitron had once again appeared behind her.
Like Stelle, Lygus stood there watching the two recede into the distance, remarking with a sigh:
""Deliverer.""
"Such cruel irony, though destined to bear the world's burden, this boy can never become the hero to bring forth the dawn."
As his words faded, Stelle regained control of her body.
She glared at Lygus.
"What are you talking about...?"
"This is definitely not some ordinary play, is it?"
At her words, a glint flashed through Lygus' eyes. He regarded Stelle with considerable curiosity.
"Of course this is merely a play. What has happened has already happened. What will not happen will never happen. That is fate."
"What makes you believe this is anything more than a simple play?"
Hearing Lygus' words, Stelle suddenly realized something.
What made her feel that this was more than a play? Naturally, it was Cyrene.
But... Having realized something at that moment, Stelle was unwilling to tell Lygus about it.
"Heh..." Watching Stelle suddenly fall silent, Lygus gave a soft chuckle. Perhaps he had guessed something. Perhaps he knew nothing at all.
But Lygus did not care. He was a "godlike spectator." Just as he had said, fate... lay entirely within his sight.
"Follow their path, Stelle. Bear witness as this man, forever denied the mantle of hero, takes his first step on the path to Deliverance."
"Watch this memory play out its final act. See with your own eyes how everything began..."
"Then you'll see why his dream of "Deliverance" was always destined to become this world's requiem."
"That is also my answer to that question, the prime mover of life."
The answer?
Stelle keenly picked up on those words. But before she could ask, everything before her was swallowed by flames.
Her viewpoint rose, and she began looking down upon the land from a third-person perspective.
Stelle had thought she would continue following Phainon and Cyrene, watching them defend Aedes Elysiae.
Yet when she finally saw the scene before her clearly, all she saw was Aedes Elysiae engulfed in a sea of flames.