Was it like this when the Daythunder Knight set out to slay Aquila?
In Hyacine's mind, the limited records preserved in her people's history flashed past like a revolving lantern.
But no matter how hard she searched, she could find no relevant descriptions. Every account focused solely on the Daythunder Knight.
Had their ancestors followed the Daythunder Knight, regarding her as the lightning that split apart the storm clouds... Or had they viewed her as a threat and an oppressor...?
No one before, Hyacine included, had ever thought deeply about this question.
Because in the later records, the Skyfolk who had descended, still upheld the glory and legacy left behind by the Daythunder Knight, continuing to write the story of the Skyfolk upon the land.
As a result, later generations naturally assumed that everyone had been followers and supporters of the Daythunder Knight.
The glory of slaying the Sky Titan belonged equally to her descendants!
In the historical records, within the collective consensus of the entire people, they were glorious, their bloodline remained noble, and not the slightest stain was permitted.
Hyacine had always believed so as well.
Until she saw clearly the expressions of the phantoms before her, those faces were filled not with pride, but with anxiety, fear, resentment, and anger.
A resentful shout suddenly rang out.
"Oh, Daughter of Dusk, who has permitted your return to this sacred land of the Cloudborn? Bearing the blood of heresy and curse of gold, exile is your eternal sentence."
They were the Rainfolk. That statement revealed a great deal.
The "blood of heresy" already told Hyacine that the Daythunder Knight's lineage was not nearly as noble as the records claimed.
Yet at that moment, that was not what shocked her most. What she could not understand was why the Rainfolk were condemning the Daythunder Knight.
Just then, she finally heard a voice coming from behind her.
"My kin of old... I am no longer the immature fledgling I once was. I've found my wings."
"The shackles you bound me with have rusted away, and I shall decide which direction I'll fly."
"As for this return home — before I embark on my god-slaying quest, those who worship the god who is about to die deserve to know everything."
Though she had never heard the Daythunder Knight's voice before, the moment that firm voice rang out, Hyacine instinctively knew that the speaker was Seliose.
Compared to Seliose' imposing presence, the Rainfolk below seemed especially timid.
A young man could not help but cry out in panic:
"So, the dreadful rumors are true! The cursed Daughter of Dusk, the invincible Daythunder Knight, will soar into the heavens to challenge the Titan...!"
Others among the Rainfolk, overwhelmed by despair and confusion, asked sorrowfully:
"Why would you do this, Seliose? You were once such a warm-hearted girl... In this hall of the Cloudborn, you prayed so devoutly to Aquila!"
Curses and insults followed. The ugliness of the Rainfolk was laid bare before Hyacine.
At a loss, she instinctively looked toward the figure behind her.
Faced with the accusations and questions of the crowd, Seliose offered no response. Instead, she looked only at the despairing Rainfolk who had spoken and replied:
"I've seen through the Titan's indifference, and grown weary of the tragic dances mortals perform under their neglect."
The Daythunder Knight's voice grew louder and louder. To Hyacine, it sounded even more deafening than thunder during a storm.
"I see how you blame the god for their favoritism, yet lack the courage to rebel against the core of your beliefs. You're quick to turn your blades on your kin, but you never dare to confront the true source of your hatred!"
"I feel sorry for you. I grew up among you and once saw myself as part of this tribe..."
"The persecution you've suffered runs deep. For that, I understand your hatred towards me... and I forgive you for casting me out."
At this point, the anger in the Daythunder Knight's voice had transformed into undisguised sorrow and empathy.
But then, her tone shifted, and confidence and valor returned once more.
"Out of care for you all, I'll walk this path, on behalf of everyone."
"Let the fall of the "Eye of Twilight" mark the dawn of a new chapter in history. Upon my return, there will be no more unjust gods..."
"When a broken faith finally disappears, the children of humanity will be reborn, the skies will mend, and the divide between day and night will fade away."
With those words, Seliose turned and vanished into the distant horizon.
The clouds above the surged upward in reverse flow, and the young knight departed full of spirit and ambition.
Left behind were countless Rainfolk, trembling in despair and fear.
Among the crowd, an elderly Rainfolk woman stared at the place where Seliose had disappeared. After a long silence, she finally spoke in a trembling voice:
"You are so naive, Daughter of Dusk... so powerful, yet so innocent..."
"I fear you... I can't imagine how twisted you may become when you realize that shallow and fragile mortals can't bear the immense weight of your boundless love..."
At that moment, no one paid attention to the old woman's words, neither the Chrysos Heirs witnessing the scene did not nor did the audience watching beyond the screen.
Their eyes were all drawn to that high-spirited knight.
...
: O... M... G!
: So the Daythunder Knight was actually never welcomed by the Skyfolk at all?
: And someone mentioned her bloodline too, damn...
: That's definitely not how Hyacine's people recorded history, right?
: But the Skyfolk should be the people who came after Seliose defeated Aquila.
: The Rainfolk and the Sunfolk probably hadn't been unified yet. In that case, their reaction kind of makes sense.
: Even so, I feel this already proves that Hyacine's historical records are probably heavily distorted.
: For someone as influenced by her people's history as Hyacine, this must be a huge blow...
: Still, setting aside this messy history, the Daythunder Knight's speech was genuinely amazing!
: She's incredibly cool!
: A mighty Valkyrie indeed, worthy of the title!
: A hero who started the wave of godslaying, truly a hero among heroes. She should have this kind of presence!
: What others didn't dare do, she did! The Daythunder Knight absolutely lives up to her name!
: Compared to most people, that kind of decisiveness and courage is incredibly rare. No wonder Solabis said Phainon was more like Seliose.
...
The audience discussed among themselves.
Meanwhile, on screen, after watching this segment of history, everyone subconsciously turned to look at Hyacine.
" Lady Seliose's resolve to slay the Titan was as firm as her farewell to her people was dismal."
With her head lowered, Hyacine spoke softly. Her mind was in complete disarray.
She had always wondered why nearly all historical accounts of this period focused on poems about Seliose challenging the Sky Titan.
Even the ballads her grandmother sang to her as a child were the same. Because of this, she had once developed a lofty admiration for that figure during her childhood.
Now, however, it seemed there was truly something suspicious behind it all.
After witnessing this piece of history, the ominous feeling in Hyacine's heart only grew stronger.
At that moment, she suddenly realized that while she had been absorbed in watching the historical scene, Lunabis had, at some point, also joined the group.
Unable to hold herself back any longer, she looked up and asked, "Yet, from this memory, I sense something ominous... What happened later, Lady Lunabis?"
Lunabis exchanged a glance with Solabis before shaking its head.
"Rather than listening to me, continue onward and witness for yourselves."
"Follow the trail Aquila has left, heroes. This time, I will guide you alongside Solabis."
Hearing Lunabis say this, the unease in Hyacine's heart deepened further.
Still, she nodded. As intelligent as she was, the moment she failed to get an answer, she had already begun mentally preparing herself.
No one said anything more. Everyone mounted the two-winged beasts.
The creatures took flight through the sky. Before long, they brought everyone to a platform even higher above.
After landing, Hyacine, who had been deep in thought the entire way, suddenly asked a question.
"Seliose is such a mighty hero... Yet her partner, who must have walked with her to pass on her bloodline, was completely unrecorded in legend."
"Was he also a warrior? Or perhaps..." Hyacine was not asking casually.
During the journey, she had recalled something that everyone always talked about, something that was practically common knowledge among all descendants of the sky.
Because it had become accepted as simple fact, she had not remembered it immediately earlier... history clearly recorded one thing, Hyacine's bloodline was the sole surviving branch of the Skyfolk, the only lineage left behind.
Everyone constantly spoke of being descendants of the sky. But exactly which branch they belonged to and who their ancestors were had always been documented.
The former Hyacine had believed it without question and taken pride in it.
But after thinking it over during the journey, she remembered those historical words concerning bloodlines.
The Daythunder Knight was a half-blood. That fact overturned everything recorded in history.
Then... could the claim that she was a descendant of Seliose also be…
Hyacine's heart clenched, and she did not dare continue the thought.
"..." Hearing this, Solabis fell silent for a moment before gently saying,
"You will soon have your answer, Miss Hyacine."
It wasn't trying to be mysterious. Solabis simply didn't know how to answer her.
The fact that someone could return to the Eye of Twilight in this manner after a thousand years was already enough to comfort them.
The rest of the journey passed in silence.
Phainon, Stelle, and the others merely listened quietly, their expressions thoughtful.
Along the way, Hyacine prepared herself for the worst possible truth. At the same time, Solabis pondered how it should explain everything.
When they finally reached the end, the eye that had nowhere left to hide was flickering frantically in the distance.
Aquila had nowhere left to run. And for both Hyacine and Solabis, wasn't it the same?
"A thousand years ago, this is where Seliose defeated Aquila, right?"
Hyacine took a deep breath. The question sounded more like an attempt to find a topic amidst helplessness.
"That's right." Solabis picked up the conversation.
"At the Celestial Mural's dome, we dealt Aquila a fatal blow."
"The Sunlit Wings set the Titan's Wings aflame..."
"The Moonlit Plume sealed the divine body..."
Upon hearing this, Hyacine's heart inexplicably settled a little.
"The battered hero of the sky... pierced the last monstrous eye."
"It seems that the legend describing the decisive battle was true." Hyacine let out a small sigh.
However, as if having made up its mind, Lunabis softly continued:
"But some things cannot be recorded, they were only witnessed by us."
After speaking, it waited for Hyacine's reaction. Hyacine blinked her large eyes twice and softly replied,
"...Would you mind sharing more, honored ones?"
She, too, had made up her mind. Lunabis no longer hesitated and began recounting what it had seen that day in its gentle female voice.
"After Aquila's defeated scream, we looked to the ground."
"The people who watched us fight, we saw the expressions on their faces."
"Old and young, adults and children alike, they all shared the same expression — pure, unshakable terror."
Solabis took over in a heavy voice.
"Our victory brought no cheers or celebrations. The terrified crowd became chaotic, screaming and trampling each other..."
"When they realized that their centuries-old faith had been overturned by a cursed child of two clans..."
"They regressed into senseless beasts that devoured their own kin. No... that would be an insult to beasts. Solabis and I have never witnessed such madness, not even in the wildest corners of Amphoreus."
Beasts have no morality; they act only on instinct. Yet even the cruelest instinct has limits.
The people that day, however, were true chaos itself. It was as though Aquila's death had stripped away every trace of their reason, turning them into a mass of rotting flesh.
The number of people who died that day from stampedes, crushing crowds, or simply falling from the sky in confusion far exceeded the casualties of any civil war.
Almost instantly, Phainon, and even the audience outside the screen remembered the old woman's words... It had not taken long at all for those words to come true.
"When you discover that shallow and fragile mortals cannot bear the weight of your profound compassion, you'll see just how twisted they can become..."
The reality was even worse than that.
In the silence, Solabis said earnestly, "You'll witness a side of the legend that's never been told, young Hyacinthia. With a truth hidden for a millennium before you, can you still walk with the same conviction?"
"It will be a harsh truth, one that is bound to shake your beliefs. Are you ready to face it, Miss Hyacine?"
Hyacine did not answer immediately. She closed her eyes for a moment.
Then, word by word, she said: "I am ready, honored ones."