When Lygus heard this, his body paused slightly. With clear interest, he replied, "Are you suggesting that Kephale may not have truly passed?"
Such a blasphemous statement, yet it slipped easily from Lygus' mouth.
The audience was instantly stunned.
This intellitron… spoke without the slightest restraint.
Anaxagoras spread his hands and said, "Yes, for dying implies an ongoing process, an action, whereas death signifies a static state, a definitive termination."
"In contrast to mortals, Titans exist on a grander scale of space and time, thus elongating their passage into death. The notion of their "fall" is but a misinterpretation born of mortal ignorance."
It could only be said, Anaxagoras truly deserved his title as a rebellious scholar. He was actually trying to dissect divinity with reason. And he was saying this in front of the statue of the Worldbearing Titan and right in front of a intellitron aligned with the Council of Elders.
Yet, just like when he had spoken those equally outrageous words earlier, Lygus showed no reaction at all. Of course, the audience couldn't read any expression from the statue-like face of the intellitron.
"An intriguing concept, albeit challenging to substantiate. After all, Kephale has maintained a profound silence ever since the Era Erasa, while scholars and priests alike have conveyed the message of the gods' imminent fall."
Anaxagoras sneered, a trace of arrogance in his voice. "Perhaps the gods, in their arrogance, deemed it beneath them to reveal their perspectives to mortals."
"Oh? Could you elaborate on your statement?" Lygus crossed his arms, waiting for his explanation.
Anaxagoras glanced toward the Titan of Reason. "Cerces, the kin of the sky father as recounted in myths, now resides within my brain. Were I to inquire, Kephale would have no cause to refuse."
A short exchange,
Yet it left the audience drenched in cold sweat.
Anaxagoras's arrogance knew no bounds. He actually believed Kephale wasn't dead, but simply unwilling to respond to humanity.
And this intellitron was calmly listening to him, as if divine authority had not been trampled at all.
Were the people of Antikythera really this fearless? Weren't they afraid that this conversation might be overheard by Caenis and the others?
However, no matter how tense the audience felt, the conversation continued.
Lygus said in a low voice, arms still crossed. "That could very well be true, but what if the Worldbearing Titan still chooses to remain silent?"
The mockery on Anaxagoras's face deepened. "Heh, in that case, the myths crafted by the people of Amphoreus are nothing more than pitiful jests."
The camera froze on Anaxagoras's face. His expression remained as always, cold, and a little unhinged.
Yet at this moment, the audience felt something strange. It wasn't conveyed through dialogue or words, but through expression.
They could feel that Anaxagoras's disdain for divine authority came from the very depths of his being.
In a place like Amphoreus, where divine authority truly existed, it was almost impossible for someone to harbor such deep aversion toward it.
He didn't just blaspheme against the divine. He was even willing to overturn the mythology that shaped all of Amphoreus.
One had to know, here, mythology was equivalent to real history. To overturn the past of Amphoreus was to deny its present.
This was no longer rebellion.
It was madness… What exactly was he trying to do? A heavy mix of curiosity and unease rose in the audience's hearts.
With that thought, they continued watching. Lygus and Anaxagoras traveled together to the end of the Marmoreal Palace.
Here, a massive hand rested against the structure.
It was one part of Kephale's body. The hand was enormous, blotting out the sky.
Beneath it, everyone looked as small as ants. At this moment, the power of divine authority was on full display.
Even Anaxagoras couldn't help but fall into a brief daze before such might. But soon, that daze turned into even deeper resolve, and contempt.
He stepped onto the hand and arrived at Dawncloud. This sacred place could only be reached by invitation.
It was the true core of the city of Okhema.
If the Marmoreal Palace was the highest point that the Chrysos Heirs and mortals could look up to, then Dawncloud was the peak in the eyes of mortals, far beyond what they could ever hope to reach.
At the summit, countless ancient structures stood tall. Exquisite gardens, towering stone walls, floating ribbons.
All the buildings surrounded a central sacred axis.
Standing here, with just a slight raise of the head, one could clearly see the textures on the Sky Father's body, along with the golden light radiating from the statue.
When the camera revealed all of this to the audience, even through the screen, they unconsciously held their breath.
The sheer impact of the scene surpassed everything they had ever seen before.
Looking at Kephale's body, something instinctive within people was awakened.
Not fear. Not reverence.
Simply the raw recognition of overwhelming power.
Imagine this, if the audience became an ordinary mortal of Okhema, standing beneath the Sky Father's colossal body looking up at the Titan, what one would see wouldn't be the sky, but a statue billions of times larger than them, gazing down at them.
The mind would be unable to comprehend it. Ones knees would weaken, their spine would bend.
They would fear whether their actions might anger this giant. Even if They were the Worldbearing Titan spoken of in legend, because to a Titan, a mortal were far too insignificant.
And the reason onw would kneel would not be because Kephale commanded it.
But because in the face of such existence, mortals could find no reason to remain standing.
This was the origin of divine authority. It was not that gods demanded worship.
It was that the moment humans saw gods, they chose to kneel on their own.
Those living outside Okhema might still retain a trace of mortal thought.
But those who lived beneath the huge statue, they had no right to doubt.
And within this breathtaking scene the camera slowly pulled back.
The figures standing upon Dawncloud, whether scholars or priests all became small, as if kneeling beneath the divine body.
Only one person remained standing tall within the scene.
It was Anaxagoras.
He stood atop the massive palm, still staring coldly at the figure of Kephale.
And so… among a crowd of people kneeling, the one who remained standing instead appeared even more out of place.
At the same time, many things were conveyed clearly to everyone's minds through this single scene alone.
For example… why the Council of Elders possessed the power to rival the Chrysos Heirs.
Because they were right beneath Kephale's feet, at the closest place to him. They were not the most devout.
On the contrary, they were perhaps the ones closest to a god, yet the least likely to ever become one.
But they had an irreplaceable advantage. They had knelt. They knew the feeling that came after kneeling.
To surrender everything, no more thinking, no more questioning, no more resisting.
To hand oneself over to an existence billions of times greater. What kind of… relief was that?
And so, they would protect this place. Protect the place where people learn to "kneel."
Not out of love for the god, but out of an understanding of human nature, and a greed for power.
At this thought, the audience was reminded of a certain Aeon known for building a cosmic wall, the Amber King.
This Aeon and the faction under him were, in essence, doing the same thing.
The only difference was that the Sky Father here was already dead, while the "Aeon" of the company was still alive.
...
: Damn… I've always seen Kephale from afar, but up close this is just too shocking.
: Oronyx and Nikador never gave me this kind of pressure.
: Well, he's a Creation Titan… a true pillar…
: This scene is freaking insane. If it were me, I'd probably have already knelt beneath Kephale's statue, reason crushed completely.
: That's exaggerating…
: Suddenly I understand where the Council of Elders' power comes from.
: Authority over interpretation, right?
: Not just that. It's also human nature. As long as Kephale still stands here, people will keep coming. And people mean power.
: The Council of Elders controls Dawncloud, and Kephale no longer speaks. So naturally, whatever they say becomes the truth.
: Divine authority has basically become the Council of Elders's own power.
: This silent impact… gave me chills all over.
: Incredible presentation, Mihoyo!
: The contrast between those standing and those kneeling… suddenly makes that figure seem even taller.
: Could it be… this guy isn't actually a bad person?
...
The comments flooded past. Meanwhile, the massive palm had already reached the other side.
Anaxagoras withdrew his gaze, his expression completely unreadable. Lygus asked him to wait here for a moment before leaving.
Anaxagoras gave no clear response.
After Lygus left, he merely glanced at the surrounding architecture before walking away.
Divine authority or architecture, he had no interest in either.
But after seeing Kephale's divine body up close, a flame had begun to burn within his heart.
"You're restless. What are you thinking about?" Cerces suddenly emerged in Anaxagoras's mind, asking from afar.
"Everything is stored in my memory, so why don't you look there?" Anaxagoras sneered.
"Heheh, then don't mind if I do..." Cerces let out a light laugh and, without hesitation, began rummaging through Anaxagoras's memories.
One year old, two years old… As she flipped through them, a subtle smile appeared on her face.
"Oh my, even a member of the preeminent Seven Sages must hug his dromas doll to sleep? How interesting..." Cerces casually exposed his embarrassing childhood moments.
The audience was stunned. Clearly, they hadn't expected such a contrast in Anaxagoras's past.
But Anaxagoras remained completely calm, without a hint of embarrassment.
"Keep going." he spoke.
Cerces continued flipping through. Soon, she found a memory that stirred the heart.
Black tide… Family… Sister… The doll…
Amid these fragmented memories, she could smell the scent of tragedy.
"This is a present that my sister gave to me. It's a doll that was made to look like our family pet."
Anaxagoras crossed his arms, his gaze indifferent.
"The black tide is everywhere... I can't bear to look." Cerces muttered softly.
"When I was five, my family died in the black tide." Anaxagoras spoke lightly, as if he weren't talking about his own life.
After a pause, he let out a cold laugh and continued: "When I was young, I couldn't accept this outcome either. Georios, Aquila, Kephale... and you, of course. Although I prayed to every Titan that I could think of for help, my efforts were ultimately futile."
Anaxagoras looked at Cerces. Yet there was no intent to question her.
He was simply stating the facts. Because since the age of five, Anaxagoras had already understood,
Titans?
They were nothing but cold beings.
He had prayed to the gods, but before his eyes there was still only an endless black tide.
Hearing this, Cerces's gaze flickered, but she offered no explanation, neither of what she had been doing at the time, nor whether she had heard the young Anaxagoras's prayers.
...
: So something like this happened to him…
: No wonder he's part of the blasphemers.
: This is such dark irony, every atheist was once a believer.
: In that case, his personality actually makes sense.
: Sigh… if divine authority exists, why didn't they respond back then?
: Better rely on yourself than others…
...
The comments scrolled past.
Cerces, meanwhile, thought of the path Anaxagoras had taken afterward.
"So… is that why you became like this?" she asked.