"Otherwise?"
Anaxa looked somewhat smug.
"I lost an eye, yet my vision is clearer than anyone else's. Your humanity is nearly gone, so you're not much different from this walking corpse of mine."
"Yes." Aglaea did not deny it.
"After burning for a thousand years, I've long since become a cluster of dead ashes."
"Facing the final great enemy, Aegle... only she can unleash a flame fierce enough to rival it."
Sensing the state of her body, Anaxa paused, then couldn't help smiling.
"Looks like this is our final chance... Why don't we set aside our grievances and break through the barriers between us?"
"May I resonate with your Core Flame, Aglaea?"
"Go ahead." Aglaea's expression remained calm.
After some time.
Anaxa opened his eyes, a look of astonishment on his face.
"This... how is this possible?"
"With such a thin soul... you really are insane!"
Aglaea knew what he was referring to and answered slowly:
"Just as you were able to drag your dead body onward for the sake of those things, I too have reasons I must do this."
"Before Phainon grows into the leader foretold by prophecy, I must maintain the Journey of the Spark and lead everyone onward..."
"Even if all I have left is an empty shell, and I can only take a few steps forward."
Faced with those words, Anaxa suddenly felt a headache coming on.
"I had already anticipated this, but I never imagined you had deteriorated to this extent..."
"Heh... how ironic."
"If we had been able to communicate like this sooner, we probably could have avoided quite a few misunderstandings."
"But setting aside all our differences in ideology, I have always agreed with you on this matter."
"About Phainon?" Aglaea asked.
"Exactly."
Anaxa's expression turned solemn.
"He was born a hero.