Cipher said flippantly.
When the scene reappeared, it was Guinaifen's turn to control the character, use skills, and make a run for it!
"Huh? Me?"
Finding it a bit fun, Guinaifen licked her lips and tried running with the new character.
During the process,
Cipher first used a clay pot to fake the world-bearing's fire seed and tricked the Fire Thief once.
Then, disguising herself as Phainon, she lured the Fire Thief onto a floating platform device, tricking him into falling once.
Although it looked very satisfying, not only Cipher but even the audience in the livestream discovered that doing this still couldn't shake him off.
So, Cipher ran to a high place, deciding to lure him there.
Reaching the edge of the cliff, in her memories, Guinaifen saw the hope Aglaea once held for Cipher.
"I hope next time, when you run upon it... it is no longer to escape another's pursuit."
Moving her golden boots, remembering these words, Cipher just smiled lightly:
"Aglaea, do you see?"
"No one can catch up to me. I stopped running for 'escape' a long time ago."
With that, Cipher zipped up in a flash.
Guinaifen's expression froze, and she started to speak but stopped:
"Family, I know it's not good, but this flag she's raising makes me feel... mmmph!"
Before she could finish, Sushang urgently covered Guinaifen's mouth!
[Well done, Chang Chang! Good job!]
[Whenever Guinaifen opens her mouth, nothing good happens!]
[Just like this, Guinaifen should quietly be the beautiful mute!]
Not long after,
When Cipher reached the top floor, unsurprisingly, the Fire Thief was still in close pursuit.
But this time, he made some strange sounds from his mouth:
"Cannot break... fate..."
"The cycle... cannot... be broken..."
Question marks flooded the livestream chat?
At this moment, Cipher spread her hands, clearly showing disdain for this:
"Don't make me laugh! Whose path isn't walked by their own feet?"
"Back in the day, I was even worse—cheating, deceiving, causing trouble, all just to survive in this damn world. If I had accepted my fate early on..."
"...then this wretched world would probably have turned into a pitch-black scrap heap long ago!"
This last line was highlighted in yellow.
In contrast, the Fire Thief continued to mutter as if he understood nothing.
No choice. Cipher knew she probably couldn't run away, so she simply decided to fight him!
"This lady has lived over a thousand years and has never seen an opponent who could keep up with my speed. You're the first!"
"But my skills aren't limited to that. Today, I'll let you see something!"
[Battle Start]
...
Discovering they had suddenly entered a battle, Guinaifen was immediately wide awake.
Since she hadn't had time to pull for the new character, this was her first time experiencing Cipher!
"We're in battle?"
"And there are four Ciphers? Family, I'll demonstrate the character's skills right now!"
So, Guinaifen eagerly began the practical demonstration.
The battle process was brief.
After reducing the Fire Thief's HP to zero, a CG animation seamlessly began.
Cipher's clones danced like phantoms in mid-air, occasionally taunting him with 'stray dog', 'stray dog'.
The Fire Thief's sword thrusts kept missing.
When he looked back again, Cipher had already appeared on the opposite side of the cliff!
The barrage was exhilarated.
[My baby is so cool! Coach, I want to learn this!]
[How did she do that? In a blink, she's on the other side!]
[Is it the power of Trickery? So cool!]
[Guinaifen, look at her!]
The moment she landed, Cipher proudly rubbed her nose.
But just as the barrage was filled with admiration,
Suddenly!
Her pupils dilated as she abruptly realized the coin on her chest was gone!
When she looked back, the Fire Thief dropped the cat coin in his hand, as if saying 'got you, little gray cat'.
Thinking quickly, Cipher lunged forward in a dash, trying to reach out and retrieve the coin.
Who would have thought,
It played right into his hands!
A classic scene from the PV was recreated. The Fire Thief seized the chance to grab Cipher and then slammed her heavily against the wall with a punch.
Boom——!
[?]
[?]
[?]
[...]
A flood of question marks covered the livestream.
"What happened?!"
Guinaifen grabbed her head with both hands, her eyes full of disbelief: "It's over——!"
As the smoke gradually cleared,
Cipher was coughing uncontrollably, and a mouthful of golden blood was directly spat out?
As everyone knows, Chrysos Heirs' blood is golden. Clearly, Cipher was severely injured!
But she smiled at this moment?
"Only someone who's lost their mind would fall for the same trick three times..."
It turned out the world-bearing's fire seed the Fire Thief had obtained was still fake.
Not long after he held the fire seed, it turned back into a clay pot.
Despite her weakness, Cipher still managed a slight smile: "I won... monster!"
And this one act completely enraged the Fire Thief.
He 'hmph'-ed, smashed the clay pot, and raised his long blade high towards Cipher!
"Wait, noooo——!"
Under the simultaneous horrified gazes of Guinaifen and Li Sushang,
In the pitch-black screen, only the sound of something piercing flesh could be heard: 'Sssshlick'.
...
Silence.
The entire livestream was eerily silent.
This happened too suddenly. One second, the cat was handling things with ease; the next, she was pinned against the wall.
And then...
[Wait, what happened? The Fire Thief raised his sword just now...]
[It can't be. Didn't the cat say no one could catch up to her? It can't be!]
[My cat! It's all Guinaifen's fault! Wuwuwu~]
Guinaifen: "?"
In a daze,
When she opened her eyes again, a magnificent mural came into view.
Below, people were prostrating and begging. Above, the new Great Hierophant was announcing the oracle.
Everything was especially sacred. The only thing breaking the immersion was the cat ears and long Tail on the Great Hierophant's head.
However,
His still lofty tone seemed destined to echo throughout every part of Okhema:
"Citizens of Okhema all——today, I bring you two messages: one of sorrow, one of glad tidings."
The sorrowful news: the old Great Hierophant had finally passed away.
The glad tidings were precisely related to the sorrowful news, because the Great Hierophant left with a smile!
All because——
"Before the great world-bearing Titan fell silent, it left words in my mentor's ear..."
"It said: 'The oracle has descended. My mission ends here, henceforth I return to silence——'"
"The eternal night approaches, but the dawn machine will watch over the holy city, waiting for the Chrysos Heirs to forge miracles... until, forever——!"
That's right.
Forever!
As these words were spoken,
It shocked not only the citizens of Okhema below but also silenced Guinaifen and the livestream.
Only at the very end of this story,
Did everyone finally understand that "lie" which had already lasted a millennium.
"Our mission is to transform the words of the Heavenly Father into unwavering faith, to make every person in Amphoreus believe——"
Cipher: "The light of the dawn machine will never fade, Kephale's protection... has no end!"
Her voice was calm, detached, yet extraordinarily resilient and resolute.
It was Cipher who replaced Atikas and announced that oracle to the holy city.
And it was at this moment,
She made the vow to bear the world's "lie"——!
Until,
The end of her life.