"Shattered into a thousand pieces… does that mean Tribbie still has other selves out there?"
Elysia quietly chewed over the wording of that prophecy.
"Right now only Trianne and Trinnon are left. Back then, my 'self' split into a thousand bodies. Now there are only three of us remaining."
Tribbie spoke with a trace of sorrow.
Trianne's time was running out as well. If she used the Century Gate a few more times, she would turn into a doll and vanish from this world.
"I'm sorry. You must all be exhausted, right?"
Elysia looked at them with pity.
"It's fine. As long as the Flame Chaser expedition succeeds, any sacrifice we make is worth it."
Tribbie forced a smile.
Kevin's gaze fell on Phainon. Everyone else would eventually part ways with her. If the prophecy really did come true, would there come a day when even at his side there was no one left?
Aside from him, there were still two earlier pioneers, Hua and Su. But they were practically strangers now. Neither of them would accept the Stigma Project. In the end, he alone would carry it out.
Mobius studied the Chrysos Heirs with interest.
What a peculiar existence… She really wanted to dissect and study that so-called golden blood.
"What else did you see?"
Aglaea looked at Aponia expectantly.
Humanity +1.
"You'll die at the hands of someone on the inside of Okhema."
Aponia spoke slowly.
"The Senate geezers, then?"
Phainon thought of them immediately. They were the people who loathed the Chrysos Heirs the most.
But Aglaea was a demigod. Could the Senate really kill her?
"I see."
Aglaea did not seem disturbed.
She had already guessed what methods the Senate would choose—threatening her with the lives of ordinary citizens.
"Aglaea, there's no time to lose. Let's storm the Senate."
Mydeimos' voice was cold.
Those disgusting worms had actually dared to target Aglaea. They were beyond saving.
"Killing them is meaningless."
Aglaea shook her head. She had never once held the Senate in any regard.
Of course, the tumor that was the Senate still had to be excised, but for now the streets could not be allowed to literally run with blood.
"Heh. Trash like that exists in every world."
Kalpas let out a derisive laugh.
Back then, hadn't the upper brass of Flame Chase been exactly the same kind of scum?
Mobius and the others nodded. All of them had survived more than one assassination attempt orchestrated by Flame Chasers' leadership—simply because their existence threatened the higher-ups too much.
Sakura's expression turned a little awkward. After all, she had been one of the 'Cocoon of Sins' once and had personally taken part in operations to assassinate Mobius and the others.
"Aponia, if we want to resolve this without bloodshed, we can just rely on your almighty 'Commandments'."
Koji spoke up.
To be honest, he couldn't understand it at all.
With a power like Commandments—even Herrschers couldn't completely resist it. Why hadn't they used it on those rotten high-ranking officials back then?
There were only a handful of people who could ignore Commandments. You could almost call it an invincible ability.
"We should see what they want to do first. We're only outsiders here."
Aponia neither agreed nor refused.
"What is 'Commandments', exactly?"
Aglaea asked in puzzlement.
"How should I put it… It's like branding someone's mind with an unbreakable rule. Once the Commandment is placed, even if it's something you hate with every fiber of your being, you still have to obey."
Elysia thought for a moment, then explained.
Commandments was a rather cold power. Once a person lost their sense of self, could they really still be called a person?
But in certain situations, the effectiveness of Commandments was frighteningly good.
"For example, Kevin. In order to deal with an enemy with a particularly tricky Authority, he asked Aponia to place a Commandment on him. The price was that he would never be able to dream again."
Kevin crossed his arms.
Dreams meant nothing to him.
Phainon glanced sideways at Kevin.
Not even being able to dream… that sounded truly miserable.
"Don't worry about it. No matter what price we pay, humanity has to win in the end."
Kevin said calmly.
Because of Honkai, he had lost far, far too much. The thing he wanted to see most was Honkai being defeated once and for all.
"Even if the price is civilization itself?"
Phainon asked softly.
Kevin did not answer. Everyone's outlook was different. Some things they had to understand on their own.
Aglaea and the others now more or less understood what Commandments was.
"If possible, I'll be counting on you then."
During the entire Flame Chasers expedition, not only had the Senate been unable to help in the slightest, they had spent all their time plotting against the Chrysos Heirs instead.
Even if every last one of them turned into puppets, nothing of value would be lost.
"Aglaea! Cipher is being chased by three people in black robes!"
Three purple, wisp-like wraiths suddenly popped into view.
Aglaea recognized them at once.
They were Bartholos and his fellow thief-wraiths who followed Cipher around.
Hearing that Cipher had run into danger, Aglaea's expression changed for once. Her dormant humanity stirred.
Who dared to lay a hand on her beloved pet cat?
She did not have much humanity left, but Cipher was most definitely one of the beings she cared about.
Koji's expression turned pensive.
Black'e (Khaslana) must have come to steal the urn. No, in this cycle he should be here to steal destruction itself.
Having gone through over thirty million loops, he knew the Chrysos Heirs' every move like the back of his hand. The order in which they collected Coreflames might vary, but in the end he always gathered them all.
"That man in the black robe—does he wear a mask?"
Phainon's eyes turned icy, hatred flooding his gaze.
From his omniscient vantage, Koji almost wanted to laugh.
Hating yourself this intensely… that was quite something.
But Khaslana was far stronger than Phainon right now. At present, Phainon wasn't even a demigod.
"Y-yes, yes! And he's holding a somewhat battered longsword."
Bartholos nodded rapidly.
"Then it's definitely him. Aglaea, let's go. He's the executioner who destroyed my hometown—Aedes Elysiae."
Phainon clenched his fists. He had finally found this butcher.
"Bartholos, where is Cipher now?"
Aglaea asked anxiously, worry plain on her face.
"In Dragonbone City—Styxia."
Bartholos replied.
"Styxia?"
Aglaea frowned. She knew that place—the kingdom of the dead. It had once been a city-state of dragons and crashing waves. But after Fagina failed to bestow blessings from the River of the Dead, that land had gradually been forgotten.
To reach that place, aside from Cipher herself, only…
Aglaea looked toward Tribbie. The Century Gate could take them there, but opening it would undoubtedly make Tribbie's condition even worse.
"Aya, don't worry about us. Saving her comes first."
Trianne shook her head.
It wasn't as if she would crumble just from using the Gate one more time. The life of a Chrysos Heir demigod was worth the toll exacted by that door.
"Leave the gate to me."
Koji tore open a spatial passage with his bare hands. Streams of data burst forth.
So this virtual world really was fragile.
Elsewhere, Lygus was already numb with shock. The data world had just suffered a breach.
What in the world had entered? Would the Iron Tomb still be able to be born successfully?
The three little Tris—Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon—rubbed their eyes in unison.
What was this power? It could open a spatial passage directly, and it looked like he wasn't even exerting himself.
"Let's go. Styxia is on the other side."
Koji stepped into the passage first. In truth, if Khaslana really wanted to attack Aglaea and the others, he could have crushed them in an instant.
The power of more than four hundred million fireseeds was enough to sweep across Amphoreus itself.
But before the Iron Tomb, even that power was useless.
(End of Chapter)
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