On screen.
As her grandmother departed, Hyacine finally obtained the last blessing.
No matter how inspiring and awe-inspiring the legend of the Day-Thunder Knight was, the future of Okhema would ultimately have to be written by Hyacine and the others themselves.
....
A few days later.
Above the "Demigod Council" Dawncloud.
With Caenis having fled, the Council of Elders had effectively lost all authority. Now, the place was filled with people loyal to the Chrysos Heirs.
Amid the expectations and cheers of all the people of Okhema, Phainon, Hyacine, Stelle, Dan Heng and a few others arrived at the top of the cliff.
The construction of the Rainbow Bridge required immense space. Only Dawncloud had a platform that met the requirements.
"I'm ready. The Rainbow Bridge can be established at any time!"
After closing her eyes and preparing for a long while, Hyacine opened them and spoke seriously under everyone's gaze.
"Mhm. I've already made arrangements for Okhema as well." Phainon spoke calmly. After saying that, he looked toward Stelle.
"Ready, comrade? If the curse separating Amphoreus from the world beyond the sky is truly Aquila's doing, then you'll be able to return home after their fall."
Stelle spread her hands. "That's assuming we can fix the car."
"Ah... sorry, I'm no help there. But we can still find some other methods." Phainon smiled and nodded toward Hyacine.
Hyacine stepped forward. She raised the blessing box she was holding into the air.
Streams of light burst forth from the box.
"Legend tells of the Skyfolk once divided into many tribes."
"The Sunfolk worshiped the sun, the Rainfolk were devoted to storms, and the Winterfolk waited for signs in the snow..."
"Our ancestors lived under Aquila's light, yet they were blinded to all but one color."
"They forgot that... the light that illuminates the world is made of countless different colors."
"That's why the rainbow is my favorite, for not only does it reflect the many colors, it is also a bridge."
Hyacine gazed at the increasingly brilliant light above and murmured:
"And I want to use the rainbow bridge to link everyone's hearts... and give hope to every soul on earth."
"Ancestors!"
"With the rainbow as your guide, lead me back to the home of the Skyfolk, a land we have not seen for a thousand years!"
As her words fell, the box gradually transformed into a dazzling sphere of light.
The radiance became visible to the naked eye.
Like a ribbon, a beam of light extended outward from the sphere, climbing into the sky. What began as a thin line grew larger and larger.
Then suddenly- a Rainbow Bridge reaching straight into the skies stood between earth and sky.
Its seven-colored brilliance blossomed, forming an unimaginably breathtaking spectacle.
And beneath that light, everyone held their breath at the magnificent sight.
"So this is... the Rainbow Bridge."
"It's beautiful!"
Stelle widened her eyes and instinctively pulled out a camera, wanting to take a picture.
But before she could adjust the lens and press the shutter, the rainbow-colored radiance cast by the Rainbow Bridge enveloped everyone.
The gravity beneath their feet began to disappear, and their bodies gradually floated into the air.
"Friends, let us soar together!" Floating at the front, Hyacine turned back and called out a reminder.
The next second...
Everyone was completely wrapped in light, becoming a giant sphere of radiance. Following the Rainbow Bridge, they shot forward like a cannonball and vanished from their original location.
The camera followed along at incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, it had already pierced through the clouds.
Faintly, the audience could even hear sonic booms caused by their tremendous speed.
The viewers clicked their tongues in amazement.
As expected of the Skyfolk, even their method of ascending to the sky was unique.
Though abrupt, it was certainly unforgettable.
The camera passed through the cloud layer in barely a second. Just as vague silhouettes of buildings began to appear on-screen, a burst of rainbow light exploded outward, filling the entire display.
When the colors faded, what appeared before the audience was the interior of an unknown structure.
"Woohoo!"
After landing, Stelle staggered and nearly lost her footing, but her face was full of excitement.
It couldn't be helped. The speed had been incredible, though not quite on the level of Cipher's divine speed.
As a result, Stelle could clearly feel the strange sensation of gravity and velocity competing for control of her body during the high-speed flight.
It felt just like riding a drop tower.
Awesome!
After Stelle landed, the others also arrived safely, though none of them looked as disheveled as she did.
Not far behind them, the sphere of light left behind by the Rainbow Bridge still quietly shone.
If they wanted to return, all they had to do was jump back into that light, just as they had done when arriving.
Seeing that everything had gone smoothly, everyone began looking around at the interior of the Sky Fortress.
Surprisingly, the place didn't appear ruined at all. Instead, it was filled with... a sense of advanced technology?
They currently stood upon a suspended bridge.
The bridge appeared to be made of some kind of marble, yet despite being untouched for a thousand years, its surface remained as pristine as ever, even reflecting a faint blue glow.
The source of that glow was the strange light strips lining both sides of the bridge.
Arranged in perfect order atop stone pillars, they were covered with patterns and nodes resembling circuit boards.
Their presence provided the dim fortress interior with its blue illumination.
As the camera swept across the scene, the entire environment exuded a level of orderliness that would satisfy even the most obsessive perfectionist.
Beautiful? Absolutely.
Impressive? Without question.
But the audience was also deeply confused.
....
: Holy shit?
: The art style is completely different from the other city-states!
: With these blue lights and this layout, I almost thought I'd walked into some company's server room.
: You know what? You're actually right.
: No wonder they live in the sky. This already looks way more high-class than the cities on ground.
: I thought Okhema and Castrum Kremnos were already amazing. Turns out there are even bigger players.
: Incredible. The sky people are the true rulers of Amphoreus!
: No wonder some residents complained before that the Skyfolk were arrogant.
...
The audience was thoroughly stunned by the visual style. But what they didn't realize was that the real shock was still to come.
When Hyacine and the others pushed open the great doors at the end of the bridge and fully entered the Twilight Courtyard...
The sight that unfolded before them left everyone wide-eyed and speechless.
The first thing that entered the audience's view was an enormous and extremely complex structure.
A gigantic control device stood there. Behind the control console was a gigantic black screen.
If you took a screenshot of just this section and showed it to someone who had never played Honkai: Star Rail, most people would probably think this was the control center of some massive spaceship.
Not the center of a city-state that was supposedly still in a medieval city-state.
This was no longer just a difference in artistic style. The scenes on the bridge earlier could still be explained away as artistic interpretation.
But what was displayed before them now wasn't even from the same level!
...
: Wait, what? Where the hell am I? Is this still Amphoreus??
: Uh... and Sky wasn't able to unify the world back then?
: 6666. They're not even trying to hide it anymore. If you tell me this level of technology wasn't influenced by Nous, I won't believe it.
: At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if an Emanator of Nous suddenly showed up in Amphoreus.
: This is absolutely ridiculous! Holy shit!
: No wonder the Sky Titan is the last one we have to fight.
: I'm dying laughing. Turns out the people of the Twilight Courtyard were the real Amphoreus all along.
: 666! The people down below are stabbing each other with spears while you guys are up here building spaceships?
: Damn, looking at it this way, Nikador chasing after Aquila and beating him up only makes Nikador look even more badass.
: And those people from Castrum Kremnos really were berserkers. They could actually suppress opponents with this kind of technology?
: Though to be fair, when it comes to power that mortals can wield, technology is probably the easiest and strongest option. The combat power here is practically on par with Castrum Kremnos.
: Then I understand it even less!! How could a city-state like this have fallen so easily?
: Castrum Kremnos held out for so long, after all.
....
Seeing this astonishing sight, the chat instantly exploded.
But beyond their shock, the audience couldn't understand how a city-state like this could have fallen.
Compared to Okhema, the Eye of Twilight, possessing technology of this level and located in the sky, seemed far more suitable as a doomsday fortress.
On screen, everyone looked around the magnificent interior with admiration.
"The Eye of Twilight..."
Phainon exclaimed, "It's the legendary sky fortress of Aquila, I never imagined that one day I'd be able to step foot on it."
"My ancestors once built a magnificent civilization among the heavens. The Eye of Twilight, which we are standing on, is the home of Aquila and the heart of the city-state in the clouds."
"This must be where the hero Seliose stood when she challenged Aquila and began the first step of the Flame-Chase Journey..."
"We are here to end the journey she began."
Hyacine also took a deep breath and spoke with a strong sense of ceremony.
Beside them, Stelle and Dan Heng exchanged glances before Dan Heng spoke:
"To be honest, the grandeur here is indeed breathtaking."
"But... how did a place like this become nothing more than a legend?"
Sensing their confusion, Hyacine smiled and shook her head.
"Everything fades with time. Even the grandest fortress cannot escape that fate."
Phainon added in a low voice,
"According to historical records, the civilization that worshiped Aquila once mastered advanced technology, which made their strategically located Sky Castrum the only force that could face Castrum Kremnos head-on in the Chrysos War."
"But they were divided within. The frequent wars started by the Chrysos Heirs drained their power, especially after the prophecy descended. In the end, they had to hide among the clouds, far from the conflicts raging below."
The two briefly explained the situation to the two visitors from beyond the world.
But that wasn't the most important part.
Hyacine continued:
"Apparently, the division was between the two most important sky tribes, the Sunfolk and the Rainfolk."
"And Seliose's frustration towards the endless strife among her people made her turn her spear towards the Titan above."
A great deal of historical material concerning that era still survived within her tribe.
However, when she studied those records while learning at the Grove, she discovered that many parts were clearly exaggerated.
Rather than history, they felt more like mythological tales. So she chose not to mention them and instead returned to the main topic.
"After driving the enraged Titan to the brink of defeat with her two winged companions, they all vanished somewhere in the sky. Her achievements were unparalleled, even if later legends exaggerated the details."
"Yet she still could not end Aquila nor bring back the Coreflame of Sky. Some say she sealed the wrath of the god within herself, trapping them deep within the Eye of Twilight to support the heavens of Amphoreus forever."
"Maybe she became one with the Titan... I would have considered it a fairytale, but after seeing what happened with Professor Anaxa? Not anymore."
Hyacine shared everything she knew.
"In other words, we're about to solve a thousand-year-old mystery."
After listening, Stelle grinned brightly.
"When it comes to solving mysteries, with Mem and me around, it's basically effortless."
"Mem!"
Hearing the praise, Mem popped out from inside Stelle and waved excitedly.
"Of course, Stelle! You're the greatest!" Hyacine smiled sweetly.
Even Phainon couldn't help smiling.
After all, everyone always talked about relying on their own efforts.
But when your party actually had an overpowered cheat character, that was a different story.
Soon, everyone got busy. The most urgent issue wasn't whether the Titan was dead or alive, but locating the extinguished core.
And the key to that lay within the massive control console.
The countless technologies inside had long been lost, but as long as Stelle activated her barrier and rewound time in this place, they could observe how the ancients operated it and figure out how to start the machine.
As the past was reconstructed, Stelle and the others could naturally witness the lives of the Sky People who once wandered these halls.
"Arrogant Sunfolk, the Titan will condemn your brazen disrespect..."
"The Rainfolk will not suffer in silence... O god, if you remain silent, we shall have to forge our own weapons and resist the malice concealed under your brilliance..."
"May the Eye of Twilight never open, and may torrid rains descend forever..."
However, the stories they heard from the ancient inhabitants revealed an incredibly bloody internal conflict.
Completely different from what everyone had previously imagined, this wasn't political disagreement or minor friction. It was outright warfare, a conflict where both sides sought the complete destruction of the other.
Even Hyacine, after hearing the voices of past skyfolk, stood frozen in shock at the overwhelming difference contained within them.
The historical records passed down through her people had never described things this way.