Khaslana stood on the edge of the cliff, watching Lygus, who had been dismantled into parts by the two geniuses, and fell into deep thought.
In the past, whenever he faced Lygus, he never bothered saying a word—he just gave it the Louis XVI–style guillotine treatment. Seeing it now taken apart into scattered components was quite cathartic in its own way.
Two more variables had appeared. Was the dawn of Amphoreus finally about to arrive?
More than thirty million cycles… Now that he could finally see the first glimmer of light, he actually felt nervous. What if things still ended the same way this time?
No. This time, it would work—no matter what price had to be paid.
…
"Mi-mi?"
A pink, flying little bunny stared at Koji and Elysia, a surprised expression on its face.
"So cute! And it's even my favorite color!" Elysia's eyes sparkled. It was just as adorable as Fairy Elysia.
She felt as if she shared some mysterious, fated bond with this pink bunny.
"Cyrene, show them your true form," Koji said.
"Cyrene?"
Elysia blinked. Was this the one Phainon had mentioned earlier—the person who supposedly resembled her?
How did that line up at all? Even if Cyrene was a Herrscher, she was at least a humanoid lifeform, whereas this Mi-mi looked exactly like a little rabbit.
"Mi-mi?"
When she heard the name "Cyrene," Mi-mi scratched her head. The name felt incredibly familiar, but her current memories were incomplete; she couldn't remember who she really was.
Koji, of course, had already considered that. He invoked the Blessing of Memory and patched up Mi-mi's missing recollections.
"Mi…"
"Hello, visitors from beyond the sky. I remember now—my name is Cyrene."
The pink bunny put on a little "now you see me" performance and transformed into a pink-haired girl.
In both height and figure, she couldn't compare to Elysia at all; the difference between them was enormous.
"Nice to meet you. Phainon said we looked alike—turns out he was right. We're practically like real sisters," Elysia said, rubbing Cyrene's head. She found this all far too entertaining.
"You shouldn't just rub a girl's head like that… but if it's you, I don't mind," Cyrene replied with a smile.
She also felt that she and Elysia had a strong affinity, and she had taken quite a liking to her.
After all, how could a cute girl like this possibly harbor any ill intent?
"Elysia-nee, how is your figure this amazing?" Cyrene reached out and touched Elysia's full chest, letting out a gasp of wonder.
"Well… I guess it's just natural," Elysia said after thinking it over. She had never really cared much about such things.
"Cyrene, you're an adult now, right?" Koji interjected.
Cyrene nodded, but what Koji said next nearly made her snap.
"Which means your figure and your height don't really have any room left to grow."
"Koji, you're awful! How can you say that to such a cute girl?" Cyrene planted her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed up as she glared at him.
It didn't look like genuine anger at all—more like she was putting on a spoiled act, completely devoid of any real threat.
Elysia laughed softly. "It's fine. Being small is cute too."
She wasn't teasing; she truly believed that. She really did want a "little sister" of her own.
Cyrene: "…"
Koji's words hadn't struck her nearly as hard, but Elysia's casual comment left Cyrene completely speechless.
You've got that kind of figure and you're telling me not to worry about it—doesn't your conscience hurt?
"So, Cyrene, what are you planning to do next?" Koji's mouth twitched as he forcibly changed the subject. Elysia really did have a unique way of "comforting" people.
"I don't really have anything I want to do. With you here, Amphoreus is bound to head toward an ending that's far more romantic than before." Cyrene let out a relieved laugh.
"Don't worry. Next, we'll show you how to speed-run Amphoreus," Koji said.
He nodded firmly as he spoke. And if Elysia and the others couldn't manage it, he would personally step in.
"Hee-hee, that's great. Right, Phainon…?"
Cyrene turned to look at the masked Fire-Stealing Walker beside them, a bright smile spreading across her face.
"…"
Khaslana remained silent, but Cyrene knew that silence counted as agreement.
Elysia looked at him, a "just as I thought" expression forming on her face. So it really was like this.
From the moment Khaslana had appeared, her instincts had told her that this man was definitely connected to Phainon.
Once she factored in the cycles of reincarnation, everything became clear. Khaslana was Phainon—or rather, he was the Phainon who had learned the truth. In order to prevent the worst possible ending, he had no choice but to step into endless cycles of reincarnation.
"Cy… rene…"
Khaslana's voice sounded out in broken, mechanical tones, weighted with age.
"You've worked so hard, Phainon. After more than thirty million cycles, it's finally about to end," Cyrene said gently, her heart aching for him.
Koji had already suspected as much. Elysia, on the other hand, was utterly shaken—those numbers were terrifying.
Even if each loop lasted only a single year, that would still be over thirty million years. Everyone else forgot everything with each reset, but Khaslana remembered every cycle in brutal clarity.
Honestly… no matter what world they came from, saviors were always such heartbreaking figures.
"…The ash-gray dawn… may not have arrived… but the blazing sun… has already risen."
Khaslana removed his mask, revealing a face ruined beyond recognition by the Coreflames burning within him.
It looked like porcelain on the verge of shattering, full of cracks so severe they made one's heart clench.
He had never waited, in the end, for a Trailblazer—but he had waited for someone even more reliable. That alone made him sincerely happy.
"That's right. The sun has risen, hope has arrived, and Destruction will ultimately fail," Cyrene said with a nod.
"Khaslana, how would you like to become the Sovereign of Annihilation that annihilates Destruction itself?" Koji asked.
Under normal circumstances, even with more than four hundred million Coreflames within him, Phainon still wouldn't be able to defeat Iron Tomb. But Phainon was no longer alone.
Khaslana fell into silence, seemingly deep in thought. He had never considered such a path. He knew better than anyone that no matter how many Coreflames he gathered, he could never defeat Iron Tomb, the current Sovereign of Annihilation.
"Is that really possible?" Cyrene asked curiously.
"It is. As long as we erase Iron Tomb's consciousness and let Phainon take its place, there's a very high chance he can become the new Sovereign of Annihilation."
For most people, that would be impossible. But Koji bore so many blessings that he practically existed in cheat mode.
"If it really works, then I think you should give it a try, Phainon," Cyrene said.
Khaslana nodded, then put his mask back on and left.
"Phainon has stored too many Coreflames in his body. He can't bear the burden much longer," Cyrene explained.
"Cyrene, do you remember what happened across those thirty-plus million cycles?" Koji asked, intrigued.
"Mm-hm… not much. I usually die pretty early every time the cycle resets," Cyrene sniffed.
Elysia thought about it. If she had to die thirty million times and still remember everything, it would be agonizing. But if that was what it took to save the world, she would do the same.
After all… cute girls could do anything.
(End of Chapter)
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