The sun sank toward the west. Gazing into the distance, one could see it hanging in the sky like a jade plate. It had withdrawn its scorching, dazzling rays and instead cast vast streams of rich, mellow light over the earth. The land gleamed gold beneath that glow, as though everything had been gilded, or the earth itself draped in a golden veil.
The sky slowly deepened in color, growing bluer and bluer, as though a painter were darkening it layer by layer with a brush. Gilneas's capital stood against the horizon, reflecting glittering gold in the sunset. It looked especially magnificent, like a beautiful painting.
Standing below the platform, the Archbishop watched the Black Crystal undergo its final transformation. The massive explosion he had anticipated never came, and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. The tension vanished from his face. Taking a silk handkerchief from his storage space, he slowly wiped the sweat from his forehead. The setting sun bathed his face in gold as he said in a voice heavy with fatigue, "I'm old. I really am old. I don't have the vigor of you young people anymore."
"No, I was a little too impatient. You were thinking of everyone's safety, Archbishop." As the Black Crystal became a Golden Crystal, radiating dazzling light beneath the setting sun, Rex's anxious heart finally settled. His rigid mind began working freely again. Hearing the Archbishop's words beside him, he immediately responded. The Archbishop was deliberately trying to ease the tension between them, and Rex naturally went along with him.
As the prince of Gilneas, Rex was destined to have plenty of dealings with the Archbishop in the future. He did not want their relationship to turn sour. Even setting aside the Archbishop's own strength as one of Gilneas's few Ninth