The internal conflict was even more complicated than what was recorded in the history books.
The Rainfolk and the Sunfolk.
They were not merely two groups with different perspectives, but two groups whose beliefs themselves had diverged.
That might sound a little confusing. After all, they were all followers of Aquila. How could they split into two factions?
But that was the reality, and the Titan was largely to blame for it.
As the Sky Titan, Aquila's authority encompassed all concepts related to the sky.
The most important among them were sunlight and rain.
Sunlight allowed plants to grow and warmed the earth. Rain brought water from the skies and was the source of all life.
Both were equally important.
Everyone understood this. Yet wherever humans exist, differences of opinion are inevitable.
The Skyfolk who served Aquila were no exception.
Before the Chrysos War erupted, the disagreements among the Skyfolk might have been limited to debates over whether today should be sunny or rainy.
Some preferred clear skies, while others liked rainy weather. Because no matter how much they argued, it was nothing more than endless verbal sparring and had no impact on survival.
Until the Chrysos War began. The usual disagreements and discussions were no longer just talk, they became matters tied directly to survival.
Should they participate in the war on the surface? When threatened by enemies, should they surrender or resist? Who would make those decisions?
And if those decisions led to catastrophic consequences, who would bear responsibility?
This was war. A war where it was kill or be killed.
People could not reach an agreement. Amid endless arguments, they passed through the most difficult period of the Chrysos War.
At this stage, the Eye of Twilight experienced both victories and defeats.
The victors loudly proclaimed their successes, while the defeated desperately tried to justify themselves.
The internal conflict intensified even further. People began choosing sides based on differing ideologies and beliefs.
The meaning of the Rainfolk and the Sunfolk was no longer limited to their preferred weather.
It had taken on greater significance, representing different paths forward.
The Sunfolk were more radical, advocating extreme measures to ensure the Eye of Twilight achieved ultimate victory in the Chrysos War.
The Rainfolk were more moderate, preferring cautious methods, building alliances on the surface and gradually guiding the course of the war.
These two ideologies were not inherently incapable of coexisting.
But although the Skyfolk's technology was advanced, their social structure remained stuck in that era.
In Amphoreus, human conflicts inevitably escalated into matters of faith.
This place was no exception. When the divide had become impossible to reconcile, a natural solution emerged.
Let the Titan decide.
Why was it that Castrum Kremnos had no true doves, only hawks pretending to be doves? Because Nikador would actually take action.
Why was Okhema able to embrace diversity? Because Kephale's statue had always stood there.
The role Titans played in shaping the city-states of Amphoreus was irreplaceable.
But here, Aquila was a freaking turtle hiding in its shell!
When both the Rainfolk and the Sunfolk desperately sought divine guidance, Aquila said nothing.
The god's silence pushed everything into an unpredictable madness.
Left with no guidance, the two factions resorted to an absurd method to determine whether Aquila supported them.
They would use the celestial mural, the control device, to alter the weather.
Whichever weather pattern Aquila chose to remain in would indicate which side it supported.
Wasn't that ridiculous? Even if gods had personal preferences, how could something like that decide the fate of an entire people?
How could it determine the future direction of a city-state? Yet the Skyfolk truly accepted this method.
And so, amid the changing skies, the Rainfolk watched in despair as Aquila emerged from the dark clouds and flew into the blazing sun.
The god had abandoned them... From that day onward, the status of the Rainfolk plummeted.
Before then, regardless of disagreements, they still held partial authority over the core power of the sky, the weather control system built upon Aquila's authority.
Together, both factions maintained Amphoreus' cycles of day and night, sunshine and rain.
But after Aquila had "taken a side," that authority was stripped away.
The Sunfolk achieved a complete victory and forbade the Rainfolk from approaching the celestial mural ever again.
It was not merely a device that controlled the weather and manifested the Sky Titan's authority, it was a symbol of power.
From then on, aside from the minimum amount of rainfall necessary to maintain the natural cycle, every other day was transformed into what the Sunfolk loved most, and what symbolized both their victory and superiority: blazing sunshine.
Leaving aside the fact that the Rainfolk had effectively lost their place among the Skyfolk, just looking at that weather distribution alone, how were the people underground supposed to survive?
And unsurprisingly... it happened again.
Nikador. The Titan of Strife looked up at the sky, saw endless blazing sunlight while people across the land suffered, and raised his spear, directing it toward Aquila.
History can no longer determine whether Nikador had already gone mad at that point.
According to the Skyfolk, Nikador was already insane.
But in the eyes of the people of Castrum Kremnos, it was hard to say whether the Titan of Strife was truly mad, or only half-mad.
And so, the most ironic development of all occurred.
The greatest disagreement between the Rainfolk and the Sunfolk was how to defend against Nikador, the Titan of Strife.
Yet before this, although the Titan of Strife waged wars everywhere, he had never actually attacked the sky.
It was only after the Sunfolk started doing something utterly ridiculous, turning every day into a scorching sunny day and seemingly trying to roast everyone on the surface alive, that Nikador, who had never attacked the skies before, actually came to attack the skies.
When the story in the memory reached this point, the audience could no longer hold back.
The comments exploded.
....
: I mean, are they serious?
: Why are the people in the sky so absurd?
: They split over how to prevent a future threat, and after the split was settled, Nikador actually showed up.
: I seriously can't take this anymore. These people are even more ridiculous than the Council of Elders.
: I genuinely didn't expect Aquila, a Titan that can literally move around, to be this cowardly. It really never communicated with its followers.
: The funniest part is that Aquila apparently doesn't like cloudy weather.
: In a world where gods actually exist, a bunch of people used the logic of a godless world to decide their fate. That's just absurd.
: If Star Rail ever does its own version of 'When Humanity Shines,' I'm definitely voting for these guys. They're practically tied with Caenis.
: The Sunfolk are honestly a complete joke.
...
Barrage comments streamed past.
This recollection of history was also reaching its end. The oppression of the Sunfolk against the Rainfolk.
It could be summed up in one sentence: stripped of all rights for life, with nothing left whatsoever.
And over time, the Rainfolk themselves began to change. As a whole, they started to become twisted.
They resented Aquila's choice and, because of that, grew to hate the Sunfolk even more.
This act of favoritism caused the divine ideal they had built up since time immemorial to begin collapsing.
Moreover, in order to showcase their "enlightenment," the Sunfolk forced the Rainfolk to remain beneath the blazing sun every day.
Claiming it was a gift, allowing them to bask in the noble clear skies as well.
The double blow to both body and mind finally led to bloodshed.
At the end of this memory, a group of Rainfolk arrived before the celestial mural and secretly altered the weather, turning the blazing sun into overcast rain.
Their actions immediately alerted the Sunfolk.
Just as the Sunfolk were shouting insults and curses at them, the long-oppressed Rainfolk drew the weapons hidden beneath their clothes and charged forward...
Countless transparent figures screamed and cursed. They fought one another, driving blades into each other's hearts.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Stelle and the others stared blankly.
They had already learned the command words for operating the Armillary Sphere from the Rainfolk who had secretly come here.
"Ah... What a terrifying memory... Mem."
"Mem! Let's stop here for now!"
Seeing only fighting going on, Mem quickly stopped the recollection.
Phainon also came back to his senses and let out a long sigh.
"The brutal internal strife is sad to see... It appears the Sky cities didn't fall to external threats after all."
Meanwhile, Hyacine held her head, trying to reconcile what she had just witnessed with the historical records preserved by her people.
But no matter how she thought about it, the discrepancy was enormous.
"The proud Sunfolk saw themselves as divinely chosen, exacting long-standing oppression on other tribes... And the Rainfolk suffering beneath them began resenting the divine, and plotted their retaliation."
Hyacine quietly summarized.
"A common story everywhere..."
Stelle inhaled sharply and complained, "And no matter how I look at it, shouldn't Aquila be blamed for all of this?"
Dan Heng remained exceptionally calm. His eyes showed no ripple of emotion as he said lightly, "The divine set the stage, and the mortals perform the play. This isn't the first time we've witnessed such a scene while trailblazing."
"Faith is a double-edged sword, capable of calming hearts and corrupting them."
Dan Heng's words provided the perfect conclusion to this chapter of history.
Stelle smacked her lips and asked curiously, "So... who ended up winning in the end?"
Although the memory seemed to show the Sunfolk holding the upper hand, the Rainfolk had already begun resisting.
As for the deadly struggle that followed, it was difficult to say who emerged victorious.
The audience had their own guesses.
...
: I think the Sunfolk lost. Hyacine's ancestors clearly don't seem to be from that side.
: Not necessarily. Hyacine has also said she likes clear skies and sunshine.
: But no matter which side won, they all lost in the end.
: Judging from Hyacine's ancestral stories and the bits and pieces about the Skyfolk joining Okhema, it's very likely that even the winning side could no longer remain in the sky and was forced to migrate to the surface.
: The civil war got so intense that this place became uninhabitable?
: That's entirely possible.
: What about the Day-Thunder Knight? Next should be her era, right? She drove away Aquila. Logically, things shouldn't have deteriorated that far afterward.
: That's the mysterious part. The conflict between the two groups could have been suppressed as long as there was an overwhelming force above them all. First it was Aquila, then it was the Day-Thunder Knight.
: I'm really curious about what the truth of this history actually is.
...
The audience continued speculating. Because the Sky City-State was different from all the others.
One reason was technology. After all, it was still functioning perfectly even now.
Another reason was geography. Most fallen city-states were destroyed, at least in part, by the Black Tide.
But this place was clearly beyond the Black Tide's reach.
Since it could float in the sky, moving through the skies was hardly anything strange.
Compared to other places, its advantages were simply overwhelming.
Precisely because of that, the migration of the Skyfolk to the surface was so puzzling.
How had things ended up like that? And this question had occurred to Hyacine as well.
"The hero Seliose... How did she view the ancient feud between the Sunfolk and Rainfolk? The legends focus on her god-slaying expedition, but are hazy on the fall of the Sky denizens."
"Perhaps I can piece together the true face of history here."
Hyacine spoke in a low, heavy voice. No matter how sweet and cheerful a girl was, after witnessing a piece of history so closely tied to herself, it was difficult to smile as before.
"One step at a time. Do you remember the verse that Rainfolk sang, Hyacine? Perhaps that's the key to unlocking the celestial mural."
Phainon reminded her from the side.
"Mm!" Hyacine gathered herself and approached the celestial mural.
Following the method she had just seen the Rainfolk use, she placed her hand upon it.
"Wind, snow, rain, shine..."
"In the name of the Sky's Hundred Eyes, I bring celestial phenomena upon the world."
"The turn of dawn and dusk, commanding the celestial globe..."
"Awaken, Celestial Mural!"
As she continued chanting, a brilliant azure light suddenly shot out from the celestial mural and pierced the pitch-black skies above.
The moment the light touched the sky, golden radiance instantly blossomed forth!
In the blink of an eye, it spread across the entire Celestial Mural.
Displayed upon the screen were barriers and clouds, along with an inconspicuous black dot flickering on the left side of the display.
"Wow!"
"What a huge LED screen!"
Stelle tilted her head back and stared at the dazzling golden display.