On online forums, there was immediately another wave of furious "attacks" against MiHoYo.
They cursed and berated the MiHoYo for having no humanity.
But if they really cared about humanity, the Chrysos Heirs wouldn't have all died such miserable deaths, right?
After Hyacine's short video was released, everything proceeded step by step.
Viewers around the world spent another week in barely restrained anticipation.
In the past, during the time weeks between episodes, MiHoYo's official website would usually be accompanied by various activities, and Pompom's Collection would also receive some new content about the characters.
But before the fourth episode aired, MiHoYo had, unusually, begun to restrain itself.
The official website was completely silent. There was nothing.
Whether it was responding to the audience's anticipation or laying groundwork for the fourth episode, there was no reaction at all.
MiHoYo wasn't in a hurry. But the viewers were going crazy with impatience.
They desperately flooded the official website, or left messages in its community section, hoping to get more information before the fourth episode arrived, at the very least, enough to satisfy their thirst for information.
Otherwise, it was simply too agonizing.
But just as a wise person named Xia Wen had said, restraint was a virtue. Moderate restraint could increase the happiness one felt when anticipation was finally fulfilled.
Especially when happiness was just about to arrive, exercising a little restraint could make the eventual satisfaction feel even more intense.
Don't misunderstand. Xia Wen was talking about the episodes, not something strange.
And so, the second week passed.
As time continued to build anticipation, the netizens' expectations grew increasingly intense.
On the official website, comments from fans sprang up like bamboo shoots after the rain.
....
: Please, I'm begging you, give us some more information! Love from my sister's basement.
: I'm seriously going to die without any more information to look at.
: MiHoYo is just too cunning! They know everyone is looking forward to the fourth episode, so they're deliberately keeping their mouths shut!
: Please! I can't hold it in anymore! Give me a little more information about the fourth episode. Even just a few pictures would be fine!
: I'm preparing to send you some local specialties! From my friends' savings.
...
Aside from these straightforward comments, there were also people treating the place like a wishing board.
...
: I hope MiHoYo can give everyone a warm and heartwarming ending.
: The characters who carry the hopes of countless people around the world have sacrificed so much and brought us so much pain. They absolutely have to give them a happy ending!
: I'll never complain about the 'dumpling-making' plot again! Please! I never thought 'making dumplings' was the greatest design in the history of entertainment, but now I really do!
: They've already tortured us and killed so many people! As long as the reincarnation cycle is completed, everything will get better, right, bro?!
: Have some mercy, MiHoYo!
...
All kinds of comments refreshed the community section of the official website at an astonishing speed.
The major trending searches were also constantly dominated by topics related to Amphoreus.
The popularity didn't fade because of MiHoYo's restraint. Instead, it became even more explosive.
In this atmosphere, a PV quietly appeared on MiHoYo's official website.
The PV title consisted of just two simple words.
"Coronal Radiance."
After a full week, with the release of new information, the netizens completely lost their composure.
From the moment the PV was uploaded to the official website, its view count began climbing by the millions every second.
As for why they directly released Coronal Radiance instead of doing other teasers and buildup, in reality, there was nothing left to build up.
In Xia Wen's previous life, the several PVs before Coronal Radiance had basically all existed as commercial ventures intended to sell characters.
From a purely plot-oriented perspective, one Coronal Radiance was already enough.
Before this, the third episode had already laid down sufficient groundwork. All the clues and all the accumulated conflicts pointed toward Phainon.
So then, let the viewers take a good, careful look at this young man from Aedes Elysiae.
....
: Finally!
: Is this Phainon's PV?! Or a preview for the fourth episode?!
: Waaaaahhh! I endured for an entire week! I can finally release it all!!!
: Coronal Radiance... I wonder what it means!
: I hope the content doesn't let down our expectations after waiting an entire week!
: Will there be a surprise?!
...
The PV hadn't even begun.
The viewers' comments were already flooding the screen, making it impossible to hide their anticipation.
Under everyone's attention, the screen went black.
The MiHoYo logo appeared, accompanied by the sound of clock hands turning.
A string of inexplicable numbers appeared on the screen.
...
The final zero in the string changed into a one during the last second before the numbers disappeared.
But the viewers still had no idea what was going on. They had no clue what the string of numbers represented.
Yet instinctively, they continued to anticipate what would come next.
After the numbers disappeared, Phainon's voice immediately rang out.
"They say..."
"If suffering has an end,"
In the setting sun, what appeared in the shot was Phainon's back.
Then, he turned around, smiled, and looked toward the camera.
The blue sky behind him, the sunlight overhead, that refreshing smile.
Everything was filled with hope. But the image suddenly flickered. Phainon from different periods began appearing one after another.
There was the image of him raising his sword and piercing the skies while fighting the Sky Titan.
There were moments when he faced different situations, showing expressions of anger, surprise, and other emotions.
All of those were things that had happened before.
Amid the rapidly flickering images, Phainon also continued speaking from the side, finishing what he had left unsaid.
"Then I will be the Deliverer."
As the images flickered, the music also began to take on the sensation of rewinding, as though time itself were flowing backward.
Then, when the screen fell into darkness, everything suddenly stopped.
The music disappeared.
The images disappeared.
Everything was plunged into darkness.This suffocating darkness lasted for a full three seconds.
Then.
Flames covered the entire screen.
The refreshing smile Phainon had shown when facing the camera moments ago, that image filled with hope, disappeared without a trace.
In its place was Phainon standing amid a sea of flames, his brows furrowed, lips tightly pressed together, staring directly at the camera.
The viewers' hearts sank the instant they saw this scene.
Just by looking at Phainon's eyes, they felt an inexplicable tension.
There were simply too many emotions hidden within those eyes.
Sorrow, confusion, and even a heart-wrenching sense of helplessness.
He was... breaking apart... That was the viewers' first reaction.
The music appeared again.
Just a simple piano melody.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
There was barely even a melody to it. Yet it was more emotionally affecting than any complicated musical arrangement could have been.
What a clean note. What a despairing note.
It matched that broken face perfectly.
...
: Phainon...
: This scene, this music... What does it mean, miHoYo...
: Looking at Phainon's face, once the music starts, a new round of tragedy is beginning.
: I have a bad feeling about this.
: That look in his eyes... What does it mean?
: Copium, Copium... My precious, I thought it would be more... positive content.
: I'm suffocating a little.
....
The audience's pent-up anticipation.
Indeed, received the satisfaction they were hoping for.
Even after realizing that the direction of this PV was not right, they still couldn't help but pour all of their emotions into it.
On screen, accompanied by the clean music, Phainon's narration appeared once again.
"But why is there"
"Absolutely nothing Behind me now?"
Some ambient sounds were added to the music, the sounds of fighting and slaughter.
The scene changed.
Inside the burning city of Okhema, the Black Tide had already engulfed the entire city.
Flames and death spread throughout the streets. Phainon held his sword, charging forward through the flames, his entire body covered in wounds.
Everything in the shot became slow motion.
Behind him were the fleeing citizens of Okhema.
Among the crowd, Hyacine was kneeling on the ground, healing a wounded citizen.
The beautiful girl who had once radiated sunlight and hope. Yet at this moment, her expression was gloomy, and tears of grief streamed down her face.
"After it's over?"
"I'll open a tailor shop."
Aglaea's soft laughter suddenly rang out.
The slow-motion shot shifted to the other side.
Aglaea held a golden sword, facing the encirclement of the Black Tide and Flame Reaver's shadow selves alongside Castorice.
Her expression was no longer as gentle as the audience had seen before. Instead, it was filled with sharpness and heroic spirit.
But if they could, the audience sincerely wished to see Aglaea's ordinary appearance once again.
And in response to Aglaea's innermost wish.
Phainon evaluated it like this:
"It wouldn't be bad to live for yourself."
As his words fell, one of the shadows of the Flame Reaver threw a black spike toward Aglaea's back from a tricky angle.
Aglaea was completely unaware.
The camera followed the black spike as it passed through layer upon layer of monsters. Just as it was about to pierce Aglaea, Castorice suddenly lunged in from the side, spreading her arms and blocking the attack.
Aglaea turned back in astonishment, looking at Castorice behind her.
And at the fearless expression on Castorice's face. Everything was shown clearly in slow motion, even leaving enough room for the audience to savor and process it in their hearts.
The audience widened their eyes watching as the black spike pierced through Castorice's chest.
Purple butterflies scattered in all directions from her wound.
As the world spun around her, Castorice collapsed onto the ground.
The audience did not see what the girl looked like before her death.
In the shot, there were only Castorice's gloved hands, lying motionless.
"I want to be a normal person."
Castorice's voice rang out.
"That's not a wish." Phainon responded in pain.
Outside the screen, the audience thought they could handle it all.
But in reality, they couldn't. That heart-rending pain began returning to their hearts once again.
Compared with the enormous time span between the first and third episodes, this round of emotional devastation was even more brutal.
MiHoYo had only needed to show three familiar characters in different forms to once again awaken the audience's pain.
...
: Why do they have to stab us again...
: No, no, this isn't something we're supposed to be seeing at this point, right?
: Another tragedy... Is this... a fragment from another period of the cycles?
: Don't do this...
: Hyacine crying, Castorice dying... I-I really can't breathe.
: Is this Phainon... No, is this Phainon from different periods, witnessing the things that happened...?
: So hopeless... So sad... I can't breathe...
: Could it be that miHoYo is going to kill all the Chrysos Heirs all over again in this PV?
....
It hadn't even been a minute since the opening.
Yet the audience had already experienced boundless pain and torment.
But this was only the beginning, it wasn't even one ten-thousandth of what Phainon had experienced.
Only by doing this could the audience truly experience even a fraction of the emotions Phainon had endured.
On screen, Mydei's voice appeared.
"Time to see who's better."
The flames surged once again.
Phainon, looking battered and exhausted, lowered his head and gasped for breath. He suddenly turned around and swung his sword, blocking the Flame Reaver's attack.
The two fought fiercely amid the flames.
"Then stand up..."
"and face me!"
Phainon roared inwardly.
He swung his sword, shattering the Shadow in front of him.
Meanwhile, more of the Flame Reavers' shadows descended from the sky.
They swooped down and surrounded Mydei. The King of Castrum Kremnos slaughtered his way through the shadows, his might completely overwhelming.
Yet he met the same fate, the Flame Reaver's true body launched a sneak attack from behind, its twisted sword piercing Mydei's only weakness.
Golden blood splattered everywhere. Mydei stared blankly at the tip of the sword protruding from his chest, confusion filling his eyes.
Pfft! The sword was pulled out.
Mydei's body collapsed onto the ground.
Before dying. He struggled to ask:
"Why..."
Mydei seemed to have thought of something, and perhaps even guessed the truth.
Unfortunately, he would never be able to know the answer.
And just as Mydei fell. Phainon, not far away, widened his eyes as he stared at his friend's corpse. His face, covered in wounds and dust, was completely overtaken by despair.
The background music, in addition to the basic piano notes, now contained the faint humming of a man's voice.
The humming was exceptionally soft and gentle.
If it weren't paired with this scene, simply listening to the music would probably make people think it was a lighthearted tune, suitable for singing beneath the sunlight among fields of swaying wheat.
"Why?"
Phainon asked the same question.
His mouth hung open as he stood frozen in place, his lips trembling nonstop as he watched the Flame Reaver walk toward him.
The piano notes became slightly faster.
And more urgent.
Facing the Flame Reaver, Phainon finally could no longer suppress his emotions.
He suddenly swung his sword and charged toward the Flame Reaver, questioning it in anger and despair:
"Why... did you..."
"Take them all away..."
"From me!?"
As this desperate roar rang out. Phainon's charging posture suddenly froze at this moment.
Holding a long sword, his face was filled with anger and despair was shown on the screen along with the words.
[Phainon]
[Prisoner of Flames]