"How could this be... The Rainbow Bridge didn't respond..."
As the onlookers realized the Rainbow Bridge had not appeared as expected, their faces grew grim. The descendants of the Skyfolk among them turned ashen.
The old woman named Enya, who had spoken with Hyacine earlier, felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She swayed, nearly collapsing before being caught by someone nearby.
Enya stared at the white casket in Hyacine's hands—a relic left behind by the ancestors of the Skyfolk.
Back when the Skyfolk were exiled, their ancestors left this item behind, hoping their descendants could one day use it to return to the sky. But now, it had failed to activate the Rainbow Bridge. For this group of Skyfolk, it was a devastating blow.
Hyacine's face was also deathly pale, finding it hard to accept that the Rainbow Bridge had not appeared.
"That's not right... Maybe I recited it wrong..."
Once more, Hyacine held the white casket and chanted the prayer. But the result was the same as before; aside from glowing, the casket showed no other reaction.
Standing behind them, Dan Heng couldn't help but frown. Although he didn't know the history of the Skyfolk, he believed they wouldn't make a mistake on something so monumentally important to their people.
The current situation was clearly the result of a problem somewhere in the process.
"Could it be Lygus's doing?" Dan Heng turned to ask Fu Zhu. Among everyone present, Fu Zhu had the most experience dealing with Lygus and understood his methods best.
Fu Zhu nodded, then shook his head.
"That's a possibility, but it's also possible the Sky Titan simply doesn't want us approaching it so easily."
The last time they met Lygus, he had declared with absolute certainty that The Irontomb's arrival was inevitable. Yet, to this day, they had seen no sign of it. Lygus was clearly still making preparations. It was plausible that the Rainbow Bridge's failure was The Irontomb's way of preventing them from retrieving the final Coreflame.
Just as everyone's faces were etched with worry, Cyrene, with her hands behind her back, approached them with a cheerful smile. "Don't worry. In every story, whenever people face an unsolvable problem, their hero always comes up with a solution. Right, Fu Zhu?"
Fu Zhu couldn't help but laugh at Cyrene. "What makes you so confident I have a solution?"
Cyrene gave a firm nod, her smile unwavering.
"Because you're the one I've been waiting for!"
Standing to the side, Stelle listened to the exchange between Cyrene and Fu Zhu and couldn't help but rub her arms, a wave of goosebumps washing over her.
"So sappy... Besides, 'Hey big bro, do you have a way to fix this?'—isn't that my line?"
Why did it feel like ever since she arrived on Amphoreus, her roles were constantly being snatched by others?
---o---
Fu Zhu turned to face the empty space before the Dawn Cloudseat. The moment Hyacine had failed to summon the Rainbow Bridge, he had already thought of a backup plan.
Their goal was to reach the Eye of Twilight in the sky. As for how they got up there... no one ever said they had to use the Rainbow Bridge.
He raised his right hand, aiming it at the space directly in front of the Dawn Cloudseat. For a Minecraft player, the most direct way to reach a high place was to stack blocks. But stacking them one by one would be a bit tiring.
And in Minecraft, there is a command that can freely replace blocks. As everyone knows, the air in Minecraft is just another type of block!
[Command Input: /fill stained_glass replace air]
Fu Zhu muttered softly, outputting the command. In the next second, a perfectly square, rainbow-colored staircase materialized before the crowd. One end was connected to the Dawn Cloudseat, while the other extended straight into the clouds.
When this blocky Rainbow Bridge appeared, everyone's jaw dropped in astonishment. Stelle and the others, however, immediately realized it was Fu Zhu's handiwork. But before they could say anything, Fu Zhu beat them to it, turning to Hyacine with a look of feigned surprise.
"Nicely done, Hyacine! You summoned the Rainbow Bridge! Let's head for the Eye of Twilight."
"Huh? Me? I didn't..."
Hyacine shook her head in bewilderment. She had only just begun to explain when the surrounding crowd erupted in applause, with Enya clapping the loudest.
"Wonderful, it's the Rainbow Bridge! But... why does it look a bit different from the legends?"
Happy as they were, Enya and the others couldn't help but feel that the bridge before them was slightly... off. Was the legendary Rainbow Bridge supposed to be so square?
Seeing their suspicion begin to grow, Fu Zhu quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
"It's rainbow-colored, and it connects to the Eye of Twilight. If that's not the Rainbow Bridge, what is?"
Enya looked at the Rainbow Bridge again and asked hesitantly, "...Is that right?"
"Absolutely! Alright everyone, we're on a tight schedule, let's get moving."
Fu Zhu hurriedly ushered the group onto the Rainbow Bridge, leading the way without a backward glance.
Seeing Fu Zhu's rushed demeanor, Hyacine couldn't help but let out a giggle. When she looked at him again, her eyes were filled with gratitude.
How could she not know that this blocky Rainbow Bridge was his creation?
It was clearly his achievement, yet he had attributed it to her in front of everyone.
It was obviously a simple matter for him to pave a road to the Eye of Twilight, but he had so gently made it rainbow-colored, all so the Skyfolk could witness their legend with their own eyes.
Just as Aglaea had said, Fu-bao was truly a gentle person.
"Hyacine, what are you standing around for? Hurry up," Fu Zhu called out, noticing she was still frozen in place.
"Coming!"
Hyacine ran over with a cheerful grin. As she passed by Fu Zhu's side, she whispered softly.
"Thank you."
Fu Zhu watched the pink-haired girl run past him, then shrugged with a smile. It was nothing.
---o---
Exomyth.
Lygus watched the screen as Fu Zhu and the others headed off to retrieve the Sky Coreflame. He then averted his gaze and casually picked up a data cable, plugging it into his own body.
"The plan can no longer proceed as intended. Fortunately, I prepared a backup plan for this exact situation."
He had originally intended to let The Irontomb hatch in the most perfect state possible, but with Fu Zhu's interference, it was now impossible for him to collect all the factors of this cycle.
However, he still had one more backup plan!
And that was to feed himself, as the final piece of data, to The Irontomb!
What could be more suitable to replace those factors than the audience who had witnessed every divine ritual of the Re-Creation across every cycle?
"Fu Zhu, I hope you will like my masterpiece."