Cyrene looked at the Golden Descendants who had appeared beside her and Phainon, standing shoulder to shoulder with them, and saw in their eyes the same resolve and conviction that burned in her own.
She was momentarily stunned. Then, an unprecedented surge of strength and warmth flooded her entire being.
This had never been a matter for just her and Phainon alone; it was inextricably linked to all the Chrysos Heirs on the flame chase journey, to all of Amphoreus!
So... what they were about to accomplish now was no longer a false creation, no longer a futile cycle!
What they were about to undertake was Amphoreus's true, its most blazing... flame chase journey!!!
If one person wants to save another, it might be because of love.
But if a group of people all want to save one person... then he must have once been their light!
…
Then, Cyrene spoke seriously to her gathered companions behind her:
"Everyone! Cover me, help Phainon and me get close to Phaethon! I'm going to restart Phaethon's calculation of the 'Prime Mover of Life'!"
"Lady Cyrene, leave it to us. Polyxia and I are still waiting to properly thank him; we won't let him go further down that path of self-sacrifice!"
Castorice declared solemnly.
Seeing this, Phainon abruptly lifted his head. He raised his "Dawnmaker" high, pointing the blade burning with black-red flames unwaveringly at the solitary figure high above in the heavens!
"Do you see clearly now?! Phaethon—!"
Phainon's roar echoed across the shattered mountains and the solidified amber,
"The story of Amphoreus... was never that stale, self-sacrificing third-rate tragedy you speak of!"
The light in his eyes grew brighter, his voice more fervent, carrying the majestic momentum of one leading the masses:
"It will be—an immortal epic, co-authored by everyone, written in the final hour!"
This proclamation was the most powerful counter to Phaethon's self-mocking "third-rate ending," the collective will's roar against a solitary fate!
"Hmph..."
In the face of his brother's roar, Phaethon's response was merely a suppressed, heavy snort.
He had resolved to speak no more.
Inner softness and a moment's hesitation were lethal poisons at a time like this. Once, twice, but never a third time!
Phaethon's gaze hardened completely into blazing red amber. His cold eyes swept over all the "family" and "companions" below who dared to raise their blades against him, his voice like millennia-old ice:
"If... this is your collective choice."
"Then, come."
"Launch your challenge at me."
He stated a "truth" he had verified through countless recurrences,
"Battle... is the most direct and most effective way to solve all problems."
But then, a hint of almost gentle promise appeared in Phaethon's icy words:
"But I promise you, Phainon..."
"I won't let this battle become the end of the journey for all of you."
His voice dropped, as if depicting a future he had long glimpsed:
"You will find yourselves in a cosmos... where 'Iron Tomb' no longer exists."
"You, and everyone you care about... will all welcome your best endings there."
Then, Phaethon spoke his final words of entrustment:
"When that time comes..."
"Let it be you... who personally... for me, for Amphoreus..."
He paused,
"...erects a headstone..."
This was the best end he could imagine for himself—his most trusted brother drawing the final period for his long and solitary journey.
The echo of his words still trembled in the air as Phaethon's power converged frenziedly around him, like a supernova erupting!
Endless amber matter surged up from the earth, elevating him like a descending god, or like a star of calamity about to destroy everything.
He slowly raised that blade symbolizing "Preservation" and "Salvation"—the amber Heavenly Fire—its tip pointing from afar at the assembled masses below, issuing his final battle cry:
"Now—"
"Step forward!"
"This is—the inscription of 'Salvation'!"
As his words faded, the aura of the Preservation Path around Phaethon blazed with unprecedented intensity!
The golden amber that had already swallowed most of Amphoreus, like an ocean violently awakened from slumber, was no longer merely a hard solid but had become a roaring, surging torrent!
Under Phaethon's control, the solidified amber crystals became a golden, world-destroying tsunami, vowing to completely devour and seal away every existence in Amphoreus!!!
"Boom—!!!"
The power capable of sealing the entire world erupted!
Amphoreus's amber was no longer slowly solidifying; it transformed into billions of tons of roaring, surging, boiling golden molten flow!
They shot up from every fissure in the earth and cascaded down from every cloud in the sky.
It was as if all of Amphoreus was executing Phaethon's will, transforming into a single giant maw, vowing to completely devour and seal every individual who dared resist!
RUMBLE—!
The earth wailed; the solid amber crust shattered violently under Phaethon's will like brittle cookies!
Amidst this chaos, Castorice's gaze sharpened. She waved her hands and commanded in a low voice: "Pollux!"
The next second, the massive purple dragon, Pollux, erupted with a sky-shaking roar, soaring up from the crumbling earth!
Its tough scales reflected a cold gleam under the dim sky light. Its enormous wings whipped up gale-force winds as it carried Cyrene, charging towards Phaethon.
"Lady Cyrene," Castorice's voice, mingled with the wind, came through, carrying earnestness and resolve, "Please... make sure Lord Phaethon embraces a new life!"
However, Phaethon, high above, merely raised his hand with indifference.
In an instant, an even more terrifying scene unfolded!
The surging amber sea below, as if manipulated by an invisible giant hand, transformed into dozens of mountain-sized amber torrents. Like living tentacles, they shot upwards and pursued with astonishing speed!
Their velocity tore the air apart, instantly catching up with the straining to ascend dragon!
CRACK! BOOM—!
A massive amber wave suddenly closed in, like the jaws of a giant beast shutting, completely enveloping and sealing Pollux, along with Cyrene and Castorice on its back!
A gigantic, irregular golden amber mass solidified in mid-air, the figures of dragon and people faintly visible within, like an eternal sculpture.
In that instant, Cyrene's vision was consumed by absolute darkness and dead silence. Her senses were stripped away, leaving only a suffocating pressure.
But within this hopeless darkness—
A faint glimmer of light, like the first star piercing the eternal night, quietly ignited!
In the light, Trianne stood before an Infinity Gate emitting a soft halo, urgently waving towards Cyrene: "Little Cyrie! Quickly! This way!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Cyrene surged with all her strength, charging desperately towards that single source of light!
Her form, upon touching the luminous gate, vanished as if absorbed by water.