Hysilens had almost no hesitation:
"What I seek remains as it always was: merely a feast for the victors."
As though she had anticipated that answer long ago, Kryudera swept out her hand.
She pointed to the long table at one side of the plaza, which had suddenly become brilliantly lit and was laden with an array of exquisite food and wine:
"—I have already prepared this banquet for you."
"I brought Okhema's finest brews and rare tributes from every corner. Enjoy yourselves to your heart's content."
Hysilens looked at the feast, tears seemingly glimmering in her eyes. She appeared deeply moved.
"A fish's nature is to seek the light... because the depths of the sea... are always so dim and vast..."
She raised her head, looked at Kryudera, and gave her a heartfelt smile:
"Now... I seem to have found a blazing flame. Even if it may be too scorching, it is still the only brightness within this darkness."
"So they're getting together already?" Yan Huan watched the subtle atmosphere between the two women and thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
"Hysilens really wanted so little—just a lively, warm dinner. Her wish was so simple it was almost heartbreaking."
Laigushi smiled faintly, his voice carrying a trace of cold insight:
"That is the obsession buried deep within her soul. It is the starting point behind all her actions, and also the weakness most easily exploited."
"Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps some tragic coincidence, but in nearly every cycle, that Caesar ultimately obtained Amphoreus's sharpest sword."
He looked toward the bustling crowds in the plaza, all immersed in celebration.
"Let us join the feast as well, [Savior]."
"The doorway to the next memory, and perhaps to our final path forward, may be hidden amid this noisy banquet."
Yan Huan walked down