"So, the core that needs purifying is here!"
Elio looked up, his clear eyes pointing Phainon towards the path to the end.
"Go forward."
His voice was calm, without a ripple.
"Keep going, don't stop."
"The 'core' of the world is at the end of the path."
Phainon's gaze didn't waver in the slightest.
He had anticipated all of this long ago.
He glanced at the quiet Cyrene beside him, then at the dependable, mountain-like figure at the doorway, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Cyrene, just leave it to me and Mydei."
Hearing this, Elio showed an expected smile.
"I know your true intention; although The Scriptwriter cannot change the future, he can point you to a path leading to the best outcome."
His gaze shifted between Phainon and Cyrene, his words carrying a profound understanding of everything.
"Since we are to reach the best outcome, some things are simply unavoidable."
Phainon's heart sank abruptly.
He looked at Cyrene.
The young woman still offered him a warm smile, as if the so-called "price" was as light as a feather to her.
He knew that some things might truly be unchangeable.
But Phainon looked up, and a flame of extreme stubbornness ignited deep within his eyes.
"Even if the future is already set."
"I will definitely twist it around with my own hands."
Upon hearing these words, the smile on Elio's face deepened.
"Just as I thought."
He murmured softly, as if speaking to himself.
"I finally know now what I chose when I and Lan chose the authority related to time and space, and what you chose."
Elio no longer tried to persuade him, instead turning the conversation in another direction.
"I am now fully awake and can no longer hide myself with madness. The world's 'immune system' will prioritize locking onto me, the biggest 'variable'."
"It will mobilize most of their computing power to eliminate me."
He looked at Phainon, as if entrusting him with something of paramount importance.
"However, precisely because of this, it also buys you the only window of opportunity to enter the core."
"Once the computing power is insufficient, the world's boundaries will show flaws. I am your best bait."
Phainon nodded slightly.
"I understand…"
"Wait."
Mydei's steady voice came from behind.
His tall figure turned and blocked Phainon's path.
"This time, I won't go with you."
Phainon's brows furrowed; he could feel the firmness in Mydei's tone.
As if seeing through Phainon's intention to stop him, Mydei let out a hearty laugh,
"Deliverer, I know what you're thinking, but everyone has their own mission. This time, I'm afraid I truly cannot accompany you to the very end."
He patted his chest hard, producing a dull thud.
"My task is to protect this eccentric 'Scriptwriter'."
"Only by protecting him can I buy you enough time."
Mydei's eyes were incredibly serious, burning with resolute fighting spirit.
"This is Castrum kremnos's way of fighting; we never let our comrades be attacked from both sides."
With words spoken, there was nothing more to say.
Phainon nodded heavily.
Finally, only Cyrene remained.
She quietly walked to Phainon's side, and walking towards the end together was the most natural thing in the world.
Phainon looked at her, all words of refusal caught in his throat.
He knew he couldn't refuse.
Because Cyrene was the very end itself.
"Let's go," Cyrene said softly… The two set off together according to Elio's instructions, leaving the coffee shop and walking down that straight path leading to the unknown.
Soon.
The surrounding streetscape began to twist and melt.
The city of steel deconstructed before their eyes, skyscrapers crumbling like sandcastles, transforming into countless streams of green code, cascading down like an inverted waterfall, disappearing into nothingness.
They arrived in a green world composed of endless code.
Beneath their feet was a solid data pathway, silently extending forward.
Above their heads was a sky flowing with zeros and ones, cold and vast.
At the end of the path, a giant sphere emitting a soft white light was silently suspended, like the heart of this virtual world.
That was the "core" of the world.
"We're here."
Cyrene stopped, gazing up at the giant orb of light.
"Now, I need to use The Power of Years to open the passage to the core."
Her voice was still soft, as if she were describing a simple trifle.
"After that, it will be up to you to 'purify' it."
As she spoke, she raised her hand, and tiny specks of light began to gather at her fingertips, preparing to touch the light.
However, a hand grabbed her wrist in mid-air.
Cold and firm.
Phainon held her.
Cyrene looked back, maintaining a gentle smile, "Phainon?"
Phainon stared into her eyes, his throat dry, "I know everything."
His gaze pierced through her gentle disguise, reaching the deepest part,
"There is no such thing as a core that needs me to purify."
Phainon's grip on Cyrene's hand tightened.
"The true 'core'…"
"Is actually you."
"Your purpose is not at all to have me purify something."
"But to sacrifice yourself, to use your existence to reshape the world's underlying code."
"To create the conditions for me… to obtain the 'key'."
Cyrene's smile did not disappear, but the resolute glint deep in her eyes could no longer be hidden.
She tried to comfort him, to tell him that all of this was worth it.
"Phainon, all of this is for…"
"For 'tomorrow'?" Phainon interrupted her, a self-mocking curve forming on his lips.
He swung his hand abruptly.
The greatsword, Invasion Dawn, appeared with a roar!
The power of The Hunt's authority erupted, golden flames like chains, using Invasion Dawn as an anchor, firmly "nailing" his hand and Cyrene's together!
He would absolutely not let go.
Never!
"What fate!"
"What script!"
"What destiny!"
In Phainon's eyes, an unprecedented rage and madness, enough to incinerate the world, burned!
He roared at the false sky, at the existence behind the scenes, a roar of the most arrogant defiance!
"I, precisely, refuse to obey!"
The moment his words fell, he exerted force, pulling Cyrene away from the core and back to his side!
Afterward, Cyrene tried to release Invasion Dawn but found herself unable to move.
In her shocked gaze.
Phainon transformed into a resolute streak of light, plunging without hesitation into the giant orb of light that represented "the end"!