Cyrene was still the same as before, without any noticeable change.
She had hurried here, and upon seeing Phainon's shocked expression, she greeted them cheerfully, "It's so nice to see you all again! Lady Trinnon, Phainon, and..."
At this point, Cyrene's expression flickered. "Hello! Seeing you here sure is a sweet surprise♪"
Oh? She could see her again?
Stelle, however, was already used to it.
"…Cyrene?"
Phainon asked in astonishment from the side, "ThisThis is... incredible. I was literally just thinking about how you might be here, but I never imagined I'd see you this soon."
Cyrene winked mischievously. "Hehe, I was supposed to leave with the priests, but then I heard Lady Maiden was with a white-haired young man... I figured it had to be you, so I snuck back here!"
Phainon smiled and shook his head.
The joy of reuniting with an old friend pleasantly surprised him, but now was not the time to reminisce.
"Ha... That's Cyrene for you. Unfortunately, this isn't a good time for reminiscing. That Kremnoan over there..."
Phainon told Cyrene the whole story and explained his choice.
Cyrene was not surprised.
"If that's your choice, I am with you."
"I am with you because I remember it all too. The fields of Aedes Elysiae, those red leaves, that little swing of mine beneath the tree where I'd dream the sweetest dreams. And those dear fairies in the Membrance Maze... It hurts so much knowing they're gone forever..."
"The pain speaks for itself. Our hometown may have been just a tiny village, but to us, it was the whole world."
"But... that's not enough, Phainon. Not nearly enough."
Cyrene paused here before continuing:
"Even though hatred can help people grow, and turn a boy into an unbreakable warrior..."
"What you need now is victory. You can't just stack the scales with your past suffering..."
"You have to throw the weight of your "future" onto them as well."
Cyrene's words were somewhat profound, Phainon did not understand what she meant.
Only then did Cyrene realize it.
"Maybe that was a bit too cryptic for you, but it's actually really simple!"
"Why not have our mutual friend here stand on the scales with the "Deliverer"?"
After going around in circles, the subject returned to Stelle.
"Me...?" Stelle pointed at herself. "Wouldn't that be cheating?"
"Hehe, relax, our dear crown prince won't have a clue~"
Cyrene sounded completely certain.
"I will stake everything I have. Stand with me, comrade, and we shall become heroes."
Phainon also looked toward Stelle.
After everything they had experienced on their journey, Stelle finally grasped the meaning behind Phainon's words at this moment.
She nodded and said softly, "Remember the past, and become the hero of tomorrow."
At the center of the screen, Mydeimos, who had already grown impatient from waiting, watched Phainon make his choice.
The new recruit placed a thin card on the other end of the scales.
"Heh…" Mydeimos sneered. "Your offering is... a card?"
"Yes, a flimsy little card. That is my choice. Just know that it's called the "Deliverer.""
Phainon replied without changing his expression.
"Interesting. Very well, if you can beat me with this card, then that's what I'll call you from now on!"
His interest suddenly piqued, Mydeimos spoke with complete confidence.
Sometimes, it truly was difficult to understand the people from Castrum Kremnos.
The audience also came to a sudden realization.
…
: Holy crap, so this is why Mydeimos has always called Phainon "Deliverer"?
: Looks like Mydeimos will keep calling Phainon "Deliverer" in this storyline too.
: Good grief, so that's where it came from.
: This kind of callback is so satisfying to watch.
: Hahaha, then there's no problem. Mydeimos, you're definitely going to lose.
: So Mydeimos said before that the name had originally been nothing more than a joke, but later, he came to acknowledge it from the bottom of his heart.
: In the cycle we're familiar with, Mydeimos' ring was thrown into the sea by his mother, and Phainon and Chartonus later retrieved it. So what he placed on the scales probably wasn't the ring, but Phainon must have defeated him using the same method…
…
The comments streamed past.
But the utterly confident Mydeimos could not see them.
After Phainon placed the Deliverer card down, Stelle also stepped onto the scales.
"Talanton, the fair, the just, they of unassailable integrity, the challengers have made their choices."
"In the name of the Holy Maiden of the Three Fates, lower your scales, weigh destiny, and reveal unto us your verdict!"
Trinnon called out to Talanton in a low voice.
Mydeimos and Phainon both stopped confronting each other, their expressions gradually growing growing tense.
On one side were his people and his honor. On the other were his past and his tomorrow.
Before Talanton delivered its verdict, the atmosphere grew increasingly suffocating. It was as though the weight of the entire world were pressing down upon them.
Several seconds later… The Titan's chant came from behind the scales.
"Finally decided?"
The expressions of Mydeimos and Phainon changed.
After carefully listening to the Titan's voice, Trinnon relayed its verdict to everyone.
"Hear thee, children of humanity: I shall pronounce judgment, for the difference is now clear."
"The one whose offering weighs more than the fate of the world is-"
"One from Aedes Elysiae, the Nameless Hero."
Mydeimos stared at the scales in disbelief. Almost instinctively, he wanted to refute the Titan's judgment.
How could everything he possessed possibly have lost to that thin piece of paper?
However… This was the judgment of the Titan of Law.
Its fairness was beyond doubt.
Phainon, meanwhile, looked toward Cyrene with immense delight.
Cyrene chuckled, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "See? I told you so♪"
But whether it was Mydeimos or Phainon, both of them overlooked the central point of Talanton's words.
The nameless hero.
The audience watching this judgment from a third-person perspective instantly became excited.
…
: It wasn't the Deliverer, it was the nameless hero! It was Stelle!
: It said only "the nameless hero," not "the Deliverer." It's already obvious who it was referring to!
: It must mean the Nameless!
: But if Talanton was referring to a nameless hero, then both Phainon and the Trailblazer meet that requirement.
: That's true. It has already been mentioned more than once that whenever Phainon left his mark on Amphoreus' history, he was usually referred to as a nameless hero.
: Actually, it would also be correct if it were referring to two people: Phainon, the one from Aedes Elysiae, and the nameless hero.
: Phainon corresponds to the one from Aedes Elysiae, while the Trailblazer corresponds to the nameless one.
: No matter how you look at it, it works, because the Trailblazer is the nameless hero within Phainon's mind.
: In any case, may the journey be blessed!
…
The Titan's chant had not yet ended.
Trinnon continued translating the Titan's final warning.
"However, heed this..."
"The true weight of conviction originates not from itself..."
"...but rather in that which tips the scales, hope itself."
Mydei, who had yet to recover from his defeat, asked coldly, "What's that supposed to mean?"
The person best suited to solve this sort of riddle was naturally Cyrene.
"I think the Titan means that it's not anyone's personal convictions that outweigh the fate of the world."
"It's about a wish, one which we all share — you, me, everyone here. What tipped the scales wasn't Phainon's conviction alone, but the collective hopes carried by this oracle card — humanity's desperate call for a Deliverer."
As soon as Cyrene finished speaking, Phainon sincerely added, "Yes, even you and your people, Kremnoan."
Mydei was no fool. He understood their explanation.
What he had placed on the scales was the weight and expectations of a single people. But for a Deliverer, that title had to bear the weight of every living being in Amphoreus.
Naturally, he had lost.
"Placing us both on the same side of the scales?"
Mydei snorted. Although he understood, that did not mean he agreed.
"Foolish. We Kremnoans are your mortal enemies. Such weak idealism will only get you skewered on our spears."
Conflict would never end. As the crown prince of Castrum Kremnos, he understood a very practical truth.
A person could become the savior of one person, a group of people, or an entire nation. But if one wished to become everyone's savior, they were destined to become everyone's enemy.
He had thought Phainon was an idealist. However, Phainon understood this perfectly well.
"Fine by me. I've never claimed to be the Deliverer from the card anyway."
"I'm a soldier, and if it's my fate to bleed my last on the battlefield, then so be it. I'll fight to my last breath. And on this, I know that we're the same..."
"That's all a "hero" really is. Someone with that kind of conviction. And the "Deliverer"? Just the sum of all those heroes."
Mydei fell silent. Honestly speaking, at that moment, he began to see Phainon in a different light.
Those were not words just anyone could say.
…
: I'm fired up! The people's view of history!
: There has never been any such thing as a Deliverer. If we want to create happiness for humanity, we can only rely on ourselves!
: We are the Deliverer! The Deliverer is us!
: I love this passage so much! Waaah! Phainon is so good with words!
: This is Phainon, a person who managed to emerge from such a painful past and still smile at the world. How could he possibly be crushed by the reality Mydei spoke of?
: And the story we witnessed also proves that Phainon truly is such a person.
: He possesses extreme individualism, bearing everything alone, yet also follows collectivism, always believing in the power of collective devotion and that unity is strength. Does someone like Phainon really exist in this world?
: What's even more ridiculous is that Phainon feels so thoroughly human, just like us ordinary people, yet he possesses all sorts of extraordinary qualities that we could never achieve.
: Yeah.
…
The slight resentment in Mydei's heart vanished with Phainon's words.
But he did not know, the audience did not know, and even Phainon himself did not know.
The words Phainon had just spoken described the rest of his life.
The "Deliverer" was the sum of all heroes.
But when only one hero remained, Phainon would carry out the very words he had spoken.
[I'm a soldier, and if it's my fate to bleed my last on the battlefield, then so be it. I'll fight to my last breath. And on this, I know that we're the same...]
In other words, if becoming everyone's Deliverer required him to become everyone's enemy… He would still walk on without regret until the very last moment.
Once the conversation came to an end, a golden figure quietly appeared above them.
"A brilliant explanation."
Having witnessed everything, Aglaea slowly applauded.
"Just as prophesied: "On this day, the final two heroes shall join the Flame-Chase Journey.""
Mydei and Phainon looked up at Aglaea. It was unexpected, yet perfectly reasonable.
Mydei crossed his arms and said calmly, "I should have known from the start. They all say Lady Goldweaver is quite brazen, but you're the first to even imagine that prophecies could persuade a Kremnos warrior."
Aglaea took his words as praise and calmly replied, "Oh, I have a thousand ways to tame a lion. But this lion didn't come here for bloodshed, did he?
The military strength of Okhema and Castrum Kremnos was vastly different. Yet not a single person on Okhema's side had died.
That was no coincidence. The warlike people of Castrum Kremnos would never show mercy.
But their military discipline was equally strict. Therefore, Aglaea and the others could only interpret this as an order from Mydei.
"Perhaps Okhema isn't as hidebound as the rumors say. You grasp the true marrow of power more clearly than those Elders."
That day, Mydei's opinion of the people of Okhema changed once again.
Aglaea smiled softly and spoke with elegance.
"Now that the wheels of fate are turning, what finer way to celebrate this fortuitous encounter than a feast?"
"Follow me, brave outlanders, heroes of this world are as countless as the stars, and at this moment, we find ourselves gathered here by the light of the flames of the long night..."
"History shall remember this moment. The prophesied Chrysos Heirs now stand assembled, heralding a new dawn for Amphoreus."
Aglaea's elegant and noble voice left the audience feeling relaxed and delighted. Knowing her eventual fate, seeing an old acquaintance as she once had been was also a form of comfort for the audience.
But at that moment, everything on the screen suddenly froze.
The audience had only just begun to relax when their hearts instantly tightened once again.
Lygus had appeared again. Once more, he appeared behind Stelle at the worst possible moment and slowly said,
"You must see it now... How different this is from the Flame-Chase Journey you traveled."
His repeated sudden appearances and refusal to answer her questions filled Stelle with anger whenever she saw him.
She did not hold back and directly asked the greatest question in her heart.
"Just whose memories are these...? And whose role am I playing?"
""Who"? Perhaps the role is not that of a person who really existed. Notice how only two particular individuals seem aware of your presence?"
Lygus answered her sincerely.
"Patience. We're approaching the final act."
"These are, as I mentioned, his first memories. They are of particular importance for the imminent Era Nova."