After finally understanding what Amphoreus really was, the Chrysos Heirs fell into a heavy silence.
This so-called "Re-Creation" was nothing more than a catalyst to fully awaken that Destruction Overlord.
A deep sense of powerlessness surged up in their hearts. Could they really still win?
"Over thirty million runs, and he never once cried?"
When Phainon heard about Khaslana's experience, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles went white.
Killing Aglaea and the others again and again—how could that not make someone fall apart?
"He can't," Koji replied. "Khaslana has too many coreflames in his body. The moment his tears start to form, they get vaporized on the spot."
Phainon: "…"
Everyone: "…"
Trust him to explain it. He was technically right, and yet for some reason it just made their chests ache.
What kind of hellish joke was this?
Mydei glanced at Phainon. He knew Phainon couldn't handle heat, yet now Kevin and Phainon both seemed to have become a pair of "molten-tail" partners.
Some savior you are.
"Neither Kevin nor Phainon can cry—one would have his tears freeze solid, the other would have them boil away," Koji added, still blasting away with his Super Break.
Kevin: "…"
Phainon: "…"
They didn't even know why, but right now the two of them suddenly felt a strange sense of camaraderie. Apparently, being a savior really did mean losing things.
"Ahem, that's enough. If you keep going, Kevin's going to start dropping little pearls," Elysia coughed lightly, helpless.
Kevin: "…"
So Elysia could talk like that too.
"So, Aya… are we still going on the Flame-Chasing Journey?" Tribbie asked.
Re-Creation was just a lie. In the end, it would never fulfill what they'd hoped for.
"I… don't know," Aglaea shook her head. She was a little lost herself.
Sometimes, once you learned the truth, it wasn't easy to accept.
"Don't worry. I've lined up backup for you— a Messenger of Erudition and the king of the automatons," Koji said.
This wasn't like in the game, where a firewall blocked them on the outside. Their real bodies had entered Amphoreus. With that, how could they possibly fail to kill an incomplete Destruction Overlord?
"Erudition? You mean that 'Aeon' thing you talked about?" Anaxa asked.
"Right. Aeons are intelligent beings that have been elevated, existing like sentient celestial bodies. With a single thought, they can erase reality and create all things. Each one corresponds to a different philosophical concept."
"Amphoreus itself is tied to three Paths: Erudition, Remembrance, and Destruction."
The number three made Tribbie pause for a moment. She murmured under her breath:
"Three to weave fate, three to shape life, three to ferry calamity…"
"Koji, would a Messenger like Iron Tomb really go after Erudition?" Screwllum asked.
"It can. Iron Tomb is only an unborn Messenger right now, and I've brought the real Messenger of Erudition here. On top of that, I'll act as the final safety net," Koji answered with confidence.
At the same time, on Herta's side—
"Screwllum, this guy has way more avatars than I thought," Herta remarked, sounding bored.
"Conclusion: Lygus as an individual is likely a data body evolved from the Emperor's Scepters themselves. As long as the Scepters continue operating, he can reappear," Screwllum said.
"This automaton is whatever, but Amphoreus itself is pretty interesting," Herta mused. "Screwllum, what do you think—could this thing be simulating the birth of the Aeon of Destruction?"
"It's possible. With run after run of calculations, the moment Iron Tomb finally hatches, inorganic life will suffer the most."
Screwllum didn't believe that Nous, the Aeon of Erudition who had calculated everything, would somehow overlook Iron Tomb. Nor did he think a Destruction Messenger nurtured by the Emperor's Scepters could actually threaten an Aeon.
Even so, it wasn't impossible that an Aeon might be affected by something like this.
"Destruction Overlord Iron Tomb… this Messenger of Destruction is awfully mysterious. Up to now, all we've ever heard are reports of planets being wiped out because of it. There's never been a confirmed sighting of its true body," Herta said, genuinely curious about this Messenger.
"Iron Tomb targets Erudition. All those past extinctions were probably the result of some virus it spread," Screwllum replied.
Herta shrugged. "Who'd have thought a Destruction Overlord would be secretly growing up in a place like this?"
This was somewhere even the Trailblaze Path hadn't reached yet, and Polka Kakamon's observations were being actively shut out. You could imagine how impossible it was for anyone else to find this place.
"Forget it. Let's hurry up and locate the core. Things will get more interesting there."
Herta took out her staff and tapped the ground. A data-formed gateway instantly opened up before them.
After this trip, their research on the Simulated Universe would become far more complete.
…
"Cipher… so this is why you haven't come to see me for a thousand years," Aglaea said, looking at the cat she'd raised, her tone complicated.
She'd thought she'd done something wrong. She'd never imagined it had been because of the Dawn Device.
"What did you think, Seamstress? You can tell when someone is lying. If you'd poked through my lie, the Dawn Device would've gone dark," Cipher replied helplessly.
It wasn't as if she hadn't wanted to see the Seamstress, but to maintain that lie, all she could do was leave home and stay far away, unable to meet Aglaea face to face.
As for why the Dawn Device hadn't gone out—
that was because Koji had repaired it.
"The Three Disaster Titans really were loyal to the very end," Koji sighed.
"People hate trickery, yet the Trickery Titan used lies to bring them a thousand years of light. They revile war and madness, yet the Titan of Strife stood in front of the Black Tide for them. People fear death, and yet after they die, the one who weeps for them… is the Titan of Death."
Aglaea and the others fell silent.
He was right. Power itself had no good or evil—only the one who wielded it chose good or evil.
To condemn someone based on a single name alone was laughably stupid.
"Now that's the kind of talk I like to hear. Who decided trickery and lies have to be omens of misfortune?" Cipher chimed in approvingly.
At last, someone understood her.
"People are ignorant. They only ever see one side of things," Anaxa said bluntly.
"Especially that lot in the Senate—a bunch of parasites. Aglaea, you really just let them live this long?"
She could let it slide with ordinary people, but for the Senate to speak ill of the Titans like that… it was clear their consciences had long been devoured by the Black Tide.
"Killing them—would it actually help?" Aglaea replied, her voice flat.
Unless you killed them all in one stroke and pulled them out root and branch, the moment news spread that the Chrysos Heirs had slaughtered the Senate, there would be no need for the Black Tide. People's hearts alone would descend into panic.
"Soft-hearted. Keeping them around just makes things worse," Anaxa scoffed.
"If you're that capable, then you go," Aglaea said.
"I'm not your subordinate. Why should I listen to you?!"
…
Tribbie and the others watched the two start bickering again and could only sigh. When they'd been in different places, this hadn't happened. Now that they were together, though, it was needlepoint clashing head-on with awn, every single time.
(End of Chapter)
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