"The sacred flame that illuminates the entire world is now in your hands. All that remains is a choice..."
"To care for it and pass it on to posterity; or to extinguish it altogether?"
" Savior, the fate of the world rests in your hands."
' Lygus ' looked at Phainon, awaiting his decision.
"There's no need for further testing; my mind is made up."
"But before I light the fire for the dawn of the afterlife, I need your promise—two promises."
"I want you to tell me: at that Teacher Anaxa's description of the 'new world' was absolutely certain."
"The world will be recreated according to my Remembrance; the living and the dead will be reborn as the original humans, no different from their previous lives..."
"And my companions—the martyred demigods—will transcend reincarnation to become newborn Titan. The sacrifice of these heroes will not have been in vain."
"Of course. I can vouch for it." ' Lygus ' nodded.
"Then, the second promise—tell me: that Star Power will not be bound by Amphoreus's rules and will return safely to her homeland."
"I regret to inform you that I cannot comment on this. As you just mentioned, two of them have already assumed the authority of the Titan..."
"They have become too deeply involved in this world."
Upon hearing this, Xing's pupils dilated in shock. "You mean... Dan Heng and March 7th can't leave?!"
"To be precise, it's Miss March 7th has taken over the power of ' Years '," ' Lygus ' kindly corrected.
Let's rewind to a little earlier, to the "holy city" of Okhema.
Amphoreus fell silent, and the rainbow light of the Dawn Machine gently bathed this wounded planet once more.
The dilapidated Cloud Stone Heavenly Palace stood silent in the afterglow of the divine remains, like a huge wound that was slowly healing.
Standing on the edge of the highest cliff in the Heavenly Palace, Xing watched as the Astral Express carriage, which had undergone emergency repairs and was barely operational, slowly ascended into the air.
The exterior of the carriage was covered with dents and charred marks left by the battle, looking particularly weathered in the dawn light.
Dan Heng stood by the open car door, nodding slightly to her, his eyes filled with lingering worry and unspoken trust.
On March 7th, half of her body was leaning out of the car window, waving her arms vigorously, her pink hair flying in the air, and her face still wearing that bright smile.
"Xing--! Wait for us to come back for you! Don't wander off--!" Her voice was muffled by the wind high in the sky, but it was full of energy.
Xing's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile, and she raised her hand and waved.
Watching the carriage carrying her most important companion gradually accelerate, transforming into a tiny point of light in the sky and merging into the warm rainbow light of the Dawn Machine, Xing felt a little more at ease.
However, this tranquility lasted for less than a minute!
Just as the star departed, and the carriage ascended above the clouds, about to escape the atmosphere of Amphoreus—
Zzz--!!!
A bizarre ray, whose color was indescribable and whose origin was undefinable, was born out of thin air, silent yet carrying a malevolent aura that distorted and trembled the very space, and instantly pierced through the middle of the carriage.
Similarly, this time there was no earth-shattering explosion, only a faint, crisp sound, like glass shattering from ultra-high-frequency sound waves.
The badly damaged carriage, where the radiation hit, instantly exhibited a strange crystallization.
The sturdy metal structure seemed to have had all its resilience and vitality instantly stripped away by an invisible hand, becoming as fragile as ashes.
The next second, the entire vehicle's power system shut down instantly, and the faint light from the thruster nozzles vanished abruptly.
The first thing the two people in the carriage felt was weightlessness. March 7th and Dan Heng never expected that the carriage would crash unexpectedly on their way to Amphoreus. Why did they have to do this again just when they were about to leave?
The train carriage, carrying the hope of " Trailblaze," plummeted irrevocably towards the shattered earth below, like a kite with a broken string, leaving a long trail of despair.
Dan Heng naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait for his death. He unleashed all his Spiritwater power, and azure light wrapped around the inner walls of the carriage in an attempt to stabilize himself.
At the same time, he desperately reached out and grabbed at March 7th, who was right in front of him but whose body was being swayed by the out-of-control airflow!
" March 7th, catch me!"
Dan Heng's fingers were almost touching March 7th's wrist when, at the critical moment!
Mutation and Regeneration!
An invisible, incredibly powerful repulsive force field suddenly appeared between Dan Heng and March 7th without warning!
This force was not directed at Dan Heng, but rather acted precisely and gently on March 7th, as if an invisible hand was gently pushing her backward.
"Huh?!"
March 7th only managed a short gasp before her body was uncontrollably pushed away from Dan Heng's fingertips, which were about to grasp hers.
Like a pink leaf caught in a whirlwind, she was instantly flung out of the wildly tumbling and falling carriage.
" March 7th --!!!"
Dan Heng watched helplessly as the pink figure was swept up by the chaotic airflow and plummeted at an even faster speed in a direction completely different from the carriage.
Below lies an unknown region shrouded in thick, perpetual night clouds, with fragmented and complex terrain.
Dan Heng himself, however, was cleverly 'protected' by that repulsive force field.
Together with the still-falling carriage, it was carried by a relatively gentle, precisely calculated airflow, sliding towards a relatively open plain.
Dan Heng was certain that this was no accident; it was a targeted separation.
The purpose of that mysterious force was not to destroy the carriages or kill them, but to precisely detach March 7th from him.
Boom--!!!
The carriage where Dan Heng was located finally crashed heavily onto the scorched plain. The enormous impact deformed the carriage again, sending dust billowing into the sky.
However, thanks to the buffering effect of that mysterious power and the protection of his own Spiritwater, Dan Heng was not fatally injured, even though his blood and qi were churning from the shock.
He slammed open the twisted car door and ran to the cliff at the edge of the plain.
Dan Heng stood on the edge of the cliff, below which was a rolling, ink-black sea of clouds, and beneath that, the shattered peaks and deep canyons were faintly visible.
The direction from which March 7th fell has long been completely swallowed up by that boundless, all-consuming eternal night cloud.
There was no sound or trace, only the biting wind sweeping across the cliff, stirring up black dust.
The Cloud-Piercing Spear was stuck in the ground beside Dan Heng, trembling slightly and emitting a reluctant hum.
On the shattered plain, only Dan Heng's lonely and angry figure and the dilapidated carriage emitting blue smoke remained, silently telling the story of the mysterious separation that had just occurred.
The wind in Amphoreus seemed to carry a chilling edge.