A/N: To distinguish the two people, Mydei's mother is called Gorgo, while the founder of Castrum Kremnos is called King Gorgo. Gorgo's background has been slightly adjusted, such as the time she met Eurypon, for smoother narration.
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When facing his own son, Eurypon displayed an extremely contradictory side.
On one hand, he began preparing a sacrificial ritual and attempting to break the oracle by killing Mydeimos.
On the other hand, he summoned Krateros, the most elite warrior and ordered him to become young Mydei's mentor.
He even told Krateros that when necessary, his loyalty to Mydei could surpass his loyalty to Eurypon himself.
Seeing this, the emotions that had been piling up in the audience's hearts finally burst free.
...
: So … Eurypon wasn't simply a tyrant …
: After all, prophecies really do come true. For Eurypon, that pressure must've been overwhelming.
: At the very beginning, he even repeatedly had the priests confirm it. That says a lot.
: Eurypon also wanted to resist the predetermined future, but this method… I honestly don't know how to judge it.
: Dissecting souls, preparing to attack Okhema, dealing with his own son… he was trying to crack the prophecy from every possible angle.
: Preparing to sacrifice his son while also arranging a teacher for Mydei, this is seriously twisted.
: The irony is that Eurypon said he wanted to end Castrum Kremnos' cruel traditions, yet once he became king, he was forced to personally continue them, even becoming the executioner himself.
: By the later stages, hadn't Eurypon completely turned into a madman? Everything he considered was the survival of Castrum Kremnos as a whole.
: And that part with Gorgo… damn, MiHoYo is really cruel. They had to write a segment about their past, showing how sweet they once were.
: Yeah, they were clearly kindred spirits.
: But this damn fate, one had to save the city-state and might have to sacrifice his son, the other had to save her son and might have to destroy the city-state.
: And that military strategist who proposed merging city-state resources to deal with the Black Tide, he really had foresight! It's a pity his proposal wasn't fully adopted.
: Eurypon's vision was still limited to saving Castrum Kremnos itself. He couldn't see the greater crisis.
: The more I watch, the more I feel Mydei's life is just unbearably tragic.
: Born carrying a fate of destruction, and then ruined because of it.
: If I were Mydei, I would've gone insane long ago.
...
The comments scrolled by wildly. The audience was already numb from Mydei's horrifying past. But the story was not yet over.
The scene shifted to Gorgo's perspective.
Still a child, Gorgo stood beneath the starry sky, listening as craftsmen and elders recounted the history of Castrum Kremnos.
That was thousands of years ago. The Lance of Fury, Nikador, was engaged in a protracted war.
For reasons unknown, Nikador attempted to slay Three Titans of Foundation, Eye of Twilight, Chalice of Plenty, and Pillar of Stone, and annihilate them.
At that time, Amphoreus had enjoyed long years of peace.
Nikador's sudden and violent actions struck terror into the hearts of all people. Where there is fear, there is submission.
One such tribe, and its leader, a warrior named King Gorgo, was exactly like that.
They were awed by the Lance of Fury and voluntarily followed in Nikador's footsteps.
Among all the battles, the war between the Strife Titan and the Sky Titan lasted the longest.
Nikador's divine body often streaked through different city-states like wind, thunder, and lightning, forcing King Gorgo's tribe to travel day and night, following the traces of his battles.
Along the way, King Gorgo passed through many city-states and encountered many strange things.
In front of one city-state, he and his tribe were warmly received. But at the banquet, there were only vegetables, no meat at all.
This was practically an insult. Yet before King Gorgo and his people could erupt in anger, they learned that, outside the city-state lived a massive lion, and all meat within the city had to be offered to it as tribute.
Upon hearing this, King Gorgo did not hesitate. He set forth to slay the lion
His valor made his tribe erupt in cheers.
Then on their journey, when they had passed the Temple of Three Fates, a priest had delivered an oracle: the Lance of Fury would forever hang above the land of Amphoreus.
Thus, someone proposed building a fortress along Nikador's inevitable path. Then, have the bravest warrior of the tribe stand atop the fortress and offer the lion's head to Nikador.
This honor, of course, belonged to King Gorgo. So once the fortress was completed, the entire tribe waited nearby.
Finally, one day, they sensed Nikador's arrival. The Titan's war roar shook the sky and earth.
Dark clouds and blazing sunlight interwove. According to the records of history, on that day, the pressure of the Sky Titan and Nikador's battle roar collided with one another.
King Gorgo immediately climbed to the top of the fortress and, with all his strength, roared in unison with the Titan.
However, Nikador let out thunderous cries, focusing only on hurling spears at the Sky Titan, completely unable to hear the voice of a mortal beneath his feet.
Only when King Gorgo used the lion's head as a makeshift amplifier did his voice finally reach Nikador's ears.
When Nikador turned back, Gorgo used all his strength to embed the lion's head into the fortress wall, so that Nikador could see him, and the valor of his people.
The arrogant Strife Titan finally halted his steps and acknowledged these followers.
He even gifted King Gorgo's tribe a blade forged by his own hand. This blade was ultimately used as the city's core symbol.
And this was the origin of the name "Castrum Kremnos."
The girl beneath the starry sky, listening to her parents recount this history, felt endless yearning.
Because her name was tied to that very legacy.
The scene returned to a room.
Gorgo gently held the infant Mydeimos in her arms, just like any ordinary mother, softly rocking the baby.
Her eyes were filled with longing, reluctance, and resolve.
After an unknown amount of time, Gorgo finally, with lingering attachment, laid Mydei on the bed, then walked alone to the table and took out a letter.
"Mydeimos … after tomorrow, your life will likely be filled with hardship."
She was writing a farewell letter. And in the background, the sound of rain mingled with Gorgo's own voice.
....
"I never once thought that I could survive beneath the blade of the King, nor would I ever willingly stand by and watch Eurypon take your life."
Along with the recitation of the letter, the scene began to shift.
In a colosseum in Castrum Kremnos
The upper echelons of the city-state, warriors gathered together, including Krateros.
They watched the two figures in the arena with expressions that were dark and unreadable.
One was their king. The other was the king's wife.
In the image, Eurypon and Gorgo each occupied half of the frame.
One's gaze was cold, like the most ruthless of monsters. The other carried a resolve of walking toward death.
"If it truly comes to this ... you will lose both father and mother from this day forward, perhaps be forced to leave Castrum Kremnos, drifting alone, your body stained with blood and scars."
The battle began.
Eurypon gripped his sword and clashed fiercely with his own wife.
At this very moment. No one knew whether flashes of their past resurfaced in their minds.
Once lovers who had loved each other deeply, partners who entrusted their lives to one another. Kindred spirits who shared the same ideals were now locked in a fight to the death.
In their eyes, there was only the will to kill the other.
"Mydeimos... if that is the case... then in my view, you need not follow the will of the Kremnoans at all."
Swords collided in the image, wounds appeared on both of their bodies.
And the sound of writing in the background, along with Gorgo's inner monologue, grew clearer and clearer.
"You are only the son of Gorgo, already stripped of the right to ever have another parent."
"In tomorrow's match, I am confident I can perish together with Eurypon."
With another clash of swords, Gorgo's expression changed.
That motion she had trained thousands of times finally revealed a flaw.
In the very next second, the king's blade sword pierced through her heart.
The audience's hearts clenched tightly at that instant.
Every one of them widened their eyes, feeling a suffocating pressure surge up their throats.
"If you sharpen yourself and grow, and one day claim the title of champion, then your mother's spirit will naturally rejoice."
"But if, like your mother, you harbor doubts toward that so-called glory, then follow your own heart."
The voice continued to echo. But the image had already frozen on Gorgo's body smashing heavily onto the ground.
Those eyes were filled with unwillingness, longing, and disbelief.
Because her husband, the exalted king, had poisoned her for the sake of today's gladiatorial match.
When did it happen? Yesterday? Or the cup of water today? Gorgo's consciousness gradually blurred.
As she was about to go to Nikador's side, the only figure left in her eyes was Mydeimos.
"My child..." Her dying murmur overlapped with the recitation of the letter, "How I wish I could see you live and grow up."
"Not burdened by any prophecy, or responsibility."
"King Gorgo followed his will and yearning, and thus summoned Nikador, winning the Titan's gaze."
"And you, too, can one day return home beneath the radiance of the Lance of Fury, bearing true glory."
The scene ended here.
As Gorgo closed her eyes, the screen temporarily faded to black. The audience could only stare blankly at the screen, which reflected their own faces.
Their mouths felt blocked, unable to utter a single word.
Without a doubt, Eurypon won because he no longer acted according to his own nature or emotions.
Everything was for the sake of the prophecy and his intellect.
But Gorgo was not so intelligent.
She was only a warrior. A warrior filled with honor.
And a mother, and precisely because of that. It was all the more moving.
Eurypon could sacrifice Mydeimos for the sake of the prophecy, Gorgo could not.
She only wanted her child to live.
Boom!!
Golden lightning suddenly tore through the darkness on the screen.
Appearing before the audience was a massive, colossal sacrificial sun altar.
In front of a cliff, Eurypon held the infant Mydeimos in his arms and walked to the edge.
Below his feet was a black fog with no visible end.
A thick aura of death surged upward from it.
"I offer this child to the soul of seas."
Under the gaze of countless priests, warriors, Eurypon extended his hand and threw Mydeimos off the cliff.
The camera followed the falling child.
Abstract images flashed across the background, forming a faint, looming form of a giant silhouette.
As the infant fell, he gradually grew. From infant, to child. From child, to youth.
[No one knows how he survived.]
[In the sea of souls]
[He grew from an infant into a child]
[Rejecting death countless times granted him an undying curse.]
The subtitles flashed.
Mydeimos, now grown into a child, slammed hard into the ground. He wiped the dust from his face and climbed back to his feet.
The camera lifted, the cliff and ravine were gone.
He was standing in a brilliant field of flowers, staring at several vicious-looking Okhema youths in front of him.
Behind him stood the statue of Kephale, watching over everything.
This was Mydeimos' childhood.
The audience watched these three seamlessly connected yet profoundly heavy scenes.
And in their minds only one sentence from Gorgo's final letter echoed.
"If it truly comes to this... you will lose both father and mother, perhaps be forced to leave Castrum Kremnos, drifting alone, your body stained with blood and scars."
....
: I ... I can't breathe.
: So oppressive ...
: Reading the letter while showing the battle, miHoYo do you even have a heart?!
: That final transition, from the cliff to the flower field, the sense of temporal dissonance was insanely strong.
: I thought after Gorgo failed, someone would save Mydeimos, but no one did?! He was really sacrificed?! Holy shit!
: MiHoYo is seriously drawing a tragedy you can already guess, then right when you think there'll be a turn, they floor the gas and plunge straight into the abyss.
: The overlap of Gorgo's last words and the visuals, I seriously can't take it anymore.
: A truly great mother!
: Honestly, the fact that Mydeimos doesn't have severe psychological issues now is a goddamn miracle.
: I felt like I was suffocating the whole time. It's too damn cruel.
: I don't think anyone has a more miserable childhood than Mydeimos, right?