At the center of the battlefield, Phaethon’s gaze slowly swept across the two before him, ultimately releasing a sigh devoid of discernible emotion.
"Cyrene, and... Phainon. You’ve co, after all."
Cyrene’s azure blue eyes narrowed slightly as she carefully scrutinized Phaethon.
A flicker of barely noticeable concern flashed through her eyes—Phaethon’s current ntal state seed sowhat more stable than she had anticipated. But precisely because of this "stability," it instead appeared sowhat... strange.
A strong sense of dissonance lingered in Cyrene’s heart.
She could be certain that the person before her, whether in soul or existential essence, was unquestionably the Phaethon she had longed for—on this, there could be no mistake.
But why... did she always feel sothing was off? Was it an illusion?
"Among all the possible paths of Amphoreus," Phaethon spoke, pulling Cyrene back from her thoughts.
His gaze, when eting Cyrene’s, trembled almost imperceptibly, but quickly returned to its calm, still-lake tranquility, then shifted toward the three mbers of the train crew.
"Only the path of ’Preservation’ that I have chosen cos closest to true ’salvation.’"
He calmly stated his view.
"These guests from beyond the sky... they have indeed brought unexpected ’variables,’ even tearing open a crack of opportunity in Amphoreus’s predetermined end of ’Destruction.’"
"But to say they could single-handedly save all of Amphoreus..." He gently shook his head. "Their power is still far from sufficient."
"Phaethon," Phainon stepped forward, eting Phaethon’s gaze. "Perhaps you do possess power greater than any one of us individually."
"But if the path you have chosen is fundantally wrong, then even if you possess the power to shake the stars, Amphoreus’s fate will never beco better—it will only slide into a deeper abyss."
He seed to recall sothing from the mories of Khaslana, gripping his sword tighter until his knuckles whitened.
"Stop this, Phaethon. Amphoreus... is not left with only this dead end you see. We have other choices."
Phaethon was silent for a mont. Instead of imdiately refuting Phainon, he turned his gaze once more to Cyrene. In the depths of those eyes seed to hide an extrely faint glimr of hope seeking validation.
"Cyrene, do you... think so too?" His voice dropped slightly. "Do you also believe my ’Preservation’... is wrong?"
Upon hearing this, Cyrene had no choice but to temporarily suppress that strange intuition in her heart.
She looked at Phaethon, her ice- Crystal-veiled eyes rippling with gentle affection, as if trying to coax this misguided Phaethon back.
In a soft voice tinged with persuasion and nostalgia, she spoke quietly:
"Little Phaethon, listen to . Co ho with , alright?"
Cyrene’s voice was incredibly tender. "I want to eat the food you cook... This ti your sister Cyrene won’t order too much—just four... no, just three dishes! Just like before, alright?"
"Ho... cooking..."
These simplest of words, like the sharpest needles, precisely pierced the softest, most defenseless corner of Phaethon’s heart.
The tip of his heart trembled violently. A warm current mixed with bitterness and warmth nearly breached the high walls built from countless recurrences mories.
Phaethon had once believed that after witnessing and bearing the joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, life and death of billions of beings, his heart had long been honed to stone, cold as frost.
But it turned out so things could not be completely erased, even after over thirty million cycles.
Yet that montary waver, like a pebble dropped into a deep pool, only stirred a faint ripple before being swiftly devoured by the greater "responsibility" and "necessity."
Finally, Phaethon slowly closed his eyes, as if making a final farewell.
When he opened them again, the last faint ripples in his gaze had completely subsided, leaving only resolve as solid as amber.
He raised the greatsword of "Judgnt of Shamash" in his hand—now fused with scorching amber into one.
Rumble——!!!
At the sa mont, the entire land of Amphoreus began to tremble violently! Amber crystals, surging like tidal waves, rushed toward Phaethon’s position from all corners of Amphoreus!
The boundless power of "Preservation" began to frantically gather around him!
"I’m sorry... Sister Cyrene..." Phaethon’s voice carried a barely perceptible tremor, but more than that, it held a resolute determination to cut through everything.
"But I assure you, ’Preservation’... is the best outco for Amphoreus!!!"
The mont the words fell, that vast, ocean-like amber torrent completely erupt, spreading outward with Phaethon at its center like a golden ring!
The Path of "Preservation," symbolizing eternal protection, officially joined this already chaotic battlefield!
The power of four Paths collided within this data space that should have been ruled solely by "0"s and "1"s.
Completely different Path powers ground against each other here, causing chaos and collapse at the most fundantal level.
The blazing sun of "Destruction" burned hot and violent, carrying the power to incinerate all things. Where its light reached, data streams rapidly evaporated and annihilated like ice cubes thrown into a steel furnace, leaving pure "nothingness."
The ice crystals of "Rembrance" were gentle yet deadly. They did not destroy, but rather "covered" and "froze," attempting to freeze the surging torrents of data into still images.
The amber of "Preservation" was thick and steadfast. With Phaethon as its core, it constructed an impregnable barriers, not only resisting external attacks but also attempting to "solidify" this chaotic space.
And the data of "Erudition," the ho turf of this realm, operated, reconstructed, and evolved at unprecedented efficiency under Phaethon’s will. It was both the battlefield and a weapon!
Four powerful Paths—"Destruction," "Rembrance," "Erudition," and "Preservation"—at this mont, on the stage called Amphoreus, would engage in an unprecedented collision!
It was at this mont that the Astral Express crew suddenly heard a voice they found extrely familiar.
"That place isn’t safe right now, my dear. You’d better leave quickly."
The three exchanged glances of surprise.
"No matter what, listen to her. Let’s go first. This place is about to beco very dangerous!" Welt spoke first.
As Stelle and Dan Heng followed Welt away, Dan Heng suddenly rembered Black Swan’s confident assurance when the train crew first arrived in Amphoreus.
And so, he silently decided: after returning to the Astral Express later, he would definitely find a way to have Hiko "share" her special coffee with Lady Black Swan.
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