"Cyrene..." Phaethon murmured softly, his voice laced with an indescribable complexity of emotion.
"Really now..." Cyrene feigned a chiding smile, though her eyes shimmered with a crystalline light. "Right until the very end, I couldn't get you to willingly call me 'Sister Cyrene' one more time. That makes me a little sad, you know."
Her tone then became light and full of hope. "But... it's alright. I'll keep waiting for you in the next cycle. Next time, though, don't make me wait a full eighteen years again, okay? That's far too long."
Phaethon only saw her figure grow somewhat indistinct, as if gradually merging with the surrounding light.
Was it because of the tears in his eyes? He didn't know.
"Now..." her final voice was like a sigh, yet carried endless tenderness and encouragement. "It's time... to begin the next eternal recurrence, Phaethon."
***
The Dawn Device finally went dark.
Phaethon stood silently in place, saying nothing for a long time. Golden blood once again stained his hands.
He gazed at the world being gradually swallowed by darkness before him, seeing the faces of his companions, one by one, meeting their end in his mind.
Finally, he and Phainon-1 stepped together into the next eternal recurrence.
[＞＞＞ Eternal Recurrence #1: After the entire world fell into silence, Asterion embarked on the eternal recurrence once more.]
***
Outside Amphoreus.
"So, you believe in him with such certainty."
A synthetic voice, utterly devoid of inflection, sounded abruptly in this space of pure thought. It was Lygus.
"No answer? Or perhaps... you'd prefer I address you as..."
"Shh—"
A figure extended an index finger, elegantly pressing it against her lips in a silencing gesture.
Cyrene(?)'s form wavered slightly in the void like a reflection in water.
She showed not the slightest ripple at the abrupt question. "It's better not to voice that identity here. I think... you should still call me 'Cyrene.' Ripples from bygone days—it's a rather nice name, isn't it? ♪"
"As for whether I believe in him..." Cyrene(?)'s gaze turned towards the distance, as if reflecting the light and shadow of countless cycles there. "Though I still don't understand to this day how a discarded concept, long judged 'stillborn,' suddenly broke free from its predestined fate and acquired such a vibrant, tenacious 「Self」... that doesn't prevent me from seeing it as a miracle."
Her tone gradually grew firm. "And I choose to stake everything on this miracle."
"An absolute variable abruptly introduced, yet belonging to no known Aeon's faction." Lygus's voice remained as flat as ever, as if stating a cold theorem.
"Your Grace Cyrene, allow me to remind you. An anomaly exceeding all preset models like this most likely conceals a conspiracy far beyond our current comprehension, one even more vast. His very existence might be an elaborately designed trap."
"I know." Cyrene(?) gave a slight nod, a glimmer of understanding passing through her eyes. "His birth is filled with far too many unexplainable doubts, like the most jarring star in the night sky, with no logical trajectory to be found. But..."
"He is Phaethon. He is the Phaethon I watched grow step by step from a naive child to who he is now. Who could possibly understand what kind of person he truly is better than I do?" Her voice softened, carrying a warm, irrefutable power.
"Perhaps he wasn't born the radiant Deliverer of prophecy, nor the hero destined by fate to bear the world. But he possesses one most precious, and most powerful, trait—"
A light of absolute certainty shone in Cyrene(?)'s eyes. "That is gentleness. A true gentleness deeply rooted in the soul."
"He never grew arrogant with his own power, nor did he ever treat living beings as pawns to be manipulated at will."
"He respects every life he encounters equally, whether they are ancient Titans holding dominion over laws, Chrysos Heirs bearing missions, or the most ordinary individuals among the vast sea of humanity. And... this respect has remained unchanged, consistent from the very moment his 'Self' was born."
Lygus fell silent for a moment before the inorganic voice sounded again. "Since neither of us can persuade the other, Cyrene. Then, let us wait and see. Let us witness what final outcome this variable outside the script of the gods will lead this world on the brink of collapse towards."
The dialogue ceased as soundlessly as it began. Their gazes both turned towards that figure still struggling forward upon the thread of fate.
***
Within a dimly lit hall, only the indigo-blue glow of the「Pasaage」Coreflame provided any illumination.
A woman with red hair and blue eyes held the flickering flame tightly, as if guarding the final hope.
Her eyes were filled with vigilance, fixed on the two white-haired men who had appeared before her without warning, as if congealed from nothingness.
"You... who are you?" Her voice trembled slightly with tension.
One of the white-haired men, whose bearing was more composed, stepped forward. "Tribios-2, we are the Deliverer foretold in the prophecy, come to save the world and retrieve the Coreflame."
This time, Phaethon attempted to intervene at an earlier point in time, hoping to lay his plans sooner.
He traversed the golden ages of the great city-states, before they were eroded by the Black Tide, sowing seeds of hope.
However, the inertia of fate was immense. Though the process differed slightly, the Chrysos Heirs still, over the long passage of time, exhausted their light of life one by one.
The light of the Dawn Device flickered helplessly once more before ultimately being swallowed by the boundless darkness.
Standing at the end of time, watching history repeat itself, Phaethon's eyes held a weariness with no bottom in sight.
***
[＞＞＞ Eternal Recurrence #2: Subject Asterion employed a collaborative strategy similar to Eternal Recurrence #1, but chose to roll back the calculation process to an earlier temporal node for intervention.]
[WARNING!!! The life cycles of the Twelve Chrysos Heirs still ended anomalously. The phenomenon of excessive timeline consumption for this calculation was not alleviated; instead, it increased due to the subject's early intervention.]
[Relevant anomaly data has been packaged and sent to the Highest Administrator.]
[Highest Administrator Port Status: REMAINS SILENT. No response.]
[After two thousand years, the world was gradually devoured by the Black Tide, living beings fell silent one after another, and Amphoreus once again entered a state of total silence. Asterion was forced to embark onto the next eternal Recurrence once more.]
***
[＞＞＞ Eternal Recurrence #3: Observed minor adjustment in strategy by the other key subject, Khaslana. Increased the decision weight for 「Avoiding the sacrifice of companions from past cycles.」]