[Is this a scene from a thousand years ago?]
[The young Cipher actually had such a cute side? I really misjudged the kitty.]
[Cipher: Cat startled.jpg]
[Is this the relationship between Aglaea and Cipher? But what caused their falling out?!]
[This impression is so different from Aglaea a thousand years later; she was actually this gentle...]
[I wouldn't say it's a huge difference; more like she's pretending very well now.]
[Aglaea: Agy design.jpg]
The comments from Cipher and Aglaea were mixed in with the overwhelming barrage of bullet comments, completely unnoticed by anyone.
At this moment, Guinaifen's expression was unusually silent.
Not long after, Dan Heng and Phainon's group also broke through the Purifiers' encirclement one after another and learned the news of Aglaea's death.
It turned out these Purifiers hadn't come to assassinate, but merely to hold back everyone else so they could make a move on Aglaea!
Besides finding Cipher, Aglaea had long calculated the time of her own exit; she had also found Hatonus.
The Great Artisan who mastered the techniques of Kremnos City.
In her nymph form, Aglaea's body was already shattered, and her journey as a human in this world had reached its end.
So she decided to seek out Hatonus and, using Xuanfeng's soul-forging technique, infuse her soul into a piece of jewelry.
The cost was that only her divinity would be preserved, completely filtering out any remaining humanity, but it might help Phainon and the others in a crucial moment.
"Is this what you want, Aglaea?" Hatonus asked with a hesitant voice, confirming again and again.
In contrast, Aglaea's reply from within the nymph was as unwavering as ever:
"For the past thousand years, all the fabrics in my hands have been stained with this cold divinity, and so I began to loathe their colors, textures, and scents."
"But this piece of jewelry is different; it was a gift from a child, pure and kind. How I wish my own childhood could have been like hers."
That's right.
What Aglaea entrusted to Hatonus was precisely that knucklebone necklace, a necklace that carried the first and final relic.
Hatonus's repeated questioning could not curb her sacrifice.
Amidst the familiar farewell music, Hatonus's evaluation was reduced to just two brief sentences:
"Selfless."
"To the very end."
He was certain that Aglaea's humanity had already walked its own...
Great life.
...
Meanwhile, Phainon, rushing back to the Okhema Holy City, still couldn't believe the news that Aglaea had departed just like that.
A god who had lived for a thousand years, her majestic presence was so reassuring that even her death was mistaken for part of her scheme.
However, on the way to find Tribbie, facts were facts.
From Kratros, who had returned a step ahead, they learned that someone had personally witnessed Aglaea fall into the bath.
A Purifier's dagger had pierced her heart, and not even Hyacine's Sky Blessing could save her.
Likewise.
Tribbie had also known all of this long before.
But after all this happened, she alone appeared the calmest.
"On this long journey, 'we' have always been by Agy's side, understanding her thoughts better than anyone."
"She knew she wouldn't see the end of the Journey of Chasing the Fire, yet she burned herself without reservation, for everyone's tomorrow."
Tribbie comforted Phainon, urging her not to blame herself or grieve.
And in the recollection, she took out a message Aglaea had left for Phainon.
At that moment, a flood of question marks was still scrolling across the live stream.
Guinaifen maneuvered Stelle around, wandering aimlessly.
Suddenly, she froze.
Because there, Tribbie was silently bidding farewell to Aglaea:
"Agy, I still remember the taste of that bowl of oatmeal."
"See you tomorrow morning; I'll prepare breakfast for you again then..."
And the lingering image in the memory, filled with Aglaea's final request and plea:
"Wuwuwu, Agy."
"Please don't cry, My Teacher..."
"I wish for my death to be calm and gentle, I wish to die lifelessly, not exposed to the gaze of the masses."
"My Teacher, I have experienced too many changes in my life, but there is only one pursuit I have held for a thousand years..."
"'Beauty,' right?" Tribbie spoke sadly.
She had once asked Aglaea if Xiaobai was ready.
However, Aglaea's answer was:
"Born in this era, we have no choice but to grow amidst terrifying waves, not after preparing everything before setting sail, just as I was when I took over meneta's torch."
Afterwards, it was the last letter Aglaea wrote to Phainon, or perhaps her suicide note.
"Phainon, my humble student, trusted colleague—"
"As I write these words, you are engaged in a war of words with Senate's debaters, fighting for the survival of the Journey of Chasing the Fire on the intangible battlefield of smoke and fire."
"I am deeply apprehensive and remorseful for the decision to hastily push you and Stelle onto the debate stage, but please forgive me; at that time, I absolutely could not show cowardice before you, for it would surely dampen your morale."
Phainon read the letter sorrowfully, and under the players' continuous gaze, even Guinaifen trembled.
In her confusion, it felt as if she had returned to that morning when Aglaea still stood by the cliffside.
She told Phainon the truth that her humanity had run its course.
It was only because, during the debates with Senate, after divinity overwhelmed her humanity, she even fell victim to Senate's vile trap.
So she began planning her own death, which was destined to be anything but peaceful, for she was determined to use it to lure out the 'serpents' lurking in the darkness.
Finally, entrusting the responsibility of Okhema to Phainon, this 'perfect,' yet not 'perfect' person.
"Phainon, I want you to understand that my thoughts of you have never changed from beginning to end—"
"You are Amphoreus's destined world-bearing, the gateway to Amphoreus's future."
"Go forth. I will await the miracle you carve out at the end of the west wind."
Thus.
The letter's contents were brief, ending here.
Yet it bore the period of Aglaea's thousand-year journey.
Only at the moment of her departure did everyone realize that this seemingly omnipotent leader, from the moment she took up the divine authority, was also just a young girl not much older.
She wasn't truly omnipotent; it was just that, as a leader, she couldn't let others see her fear, her weakness.
She had to appear omnipotent, to make the restless serpents within Okhema cower.
She needed to guide everyone, even to be that bright lamp ready to be extinguished at any moment.
[Thou shalt bathe for the last time in warm, dazzling gold...]
[Another oracle's curtain call? Who would have thought it would come this quickly?]
In Guinaifen's live stream.
After a long while, the bullet comments finally recovered from the somber atmosphere.
Immediately after, there was frenzied discussion about Aglaea.
[This counts as a heartfelt suicide note, right? So this seemingly cold, even heartless Chrysos Heirs leader had an unknown side?]
[Plot twist! Over the span of four versions, the Author completely reversed this character?!]
[Shut up! What kind of joke are you playing? What do you mean the Chrysos Heirs' coldest leader was actually a young girl feeling her way forward?]
[Wuwuwu~ I don't accept this ending, OOC, this is absolutely OOC, she must be tricking me, right?!]
[My brain can't process it right away; was Aglaea like this because she took up the torch first for everyone's sake in the Fire Chasing, losing her humanity...]
[Just like in the Citizens Assembly, when her humanity was nearly spent and Caenis guided her to blurt out that outrageous statement, even her difficult treatment of Stelle back then was the same?!]
[But, she didn't choose to apologize... just as she said herself, 'No matter how much resentment you hold against me in your heart, it will dissipate like smoke with my departure.']