Elysia, Kevin, and now, Cyrene.
Each one left some sort of legacy to me. Elysia left her Core of Origin to me, teaching me how it truly worked.
After Kevin's defeat, he voluntarily halted Project STIGMA. It wasn't that big of a deal considering our capabilities at that time. What mattered was his attitude. He left humanity to me.
Now, it is Cyrene's entrustment of her memories regarding Fuli's deepest secret.
Had I not stepped into the path of immortal cultivation, I would have been left with no other choice but to accept this bittersweet ending. It has been so for Amphoreus.
Nobody earned the rightful ending they deserved. Their biggest consolation is to be turned into a 'story' that will inspire the cosmos outside. No one lived to see the products of their dreams—to be a real person.
No matter how much Cyrene frames it as a romantic story, its bittersweet ending could not be hidden. It was like that in my past life. It is like this now that I have personally become a part of it.
Happy endings are boring in reality. It lacked the tension and the tragedy reality possesses. But for those who have lived in these 'bad endings', it is the exact opposite.
Those mundane and stale moments hold a different meaning after going through hell.
It is why I never took those peaceful days on Earth for granted. I needed more power to change endings the way I want them to be.
Holding the cold ice fragment in my fingertips, I felt the weight of the memories inside.
I looked back one last time. I saw everyone fight the flying fortress corrupted by the Black Sun. Amphoreus' natives did their best to drive the Black Tide and the Black Sun away.
Even an ordinary citizen would have a noteworthy story at this moment. Everyone is the main character of their stories… one destined to reach a bad end.
To hell with Shakespeare.
Without any hesitation, I immersed myself in the memories hidden within…
*****
It all starts with the Trailblaze.
The universe had established itself from scratch. The Imaginary Tree rose up, with the Sea of Quanta remaining below. The two fed on each other, forming a cycle that maintained the grand operation of the universe for eons.
Aeons are a product of the Imaginary Tree's instinctive mechanisms. For reasons unknown, THEY rose up from various places. Preservation, for example, belonged to the most ancient Aeons, living since countless years ago.
One by one, THEY established the concepts… the Paths THEY stood on. These became part of the universe itself. Order is necessary for peaceful co-existence; Equilibrium keeps everything in balance; Preservation keeps everything safe from non-existence; Permanence shows a path where things can last forever; Erudition blesses others' scientific discoveries.
It was all fine and well until THEY showed up.
Finality.
THEY spell the end of time. The destruction of the universe. The cessation of all things. The meaninglessness of everything that existed.
Existing at the end of time, THEY move backwards. THEY stride towards the present, bringing closure to all things.
Along with THEM are four other Aeons: Destruction, Nihility, Harmony, and Remembrance.
Destruction is the most direct, pushing things towards obliteration.
Nihility is the meaninglessness that comes after the universe's end.
Harmony is the three faces that accelerate the world's end under the guise of harmony.
Remembrance is the one that w…t…n…s…
…
…
…
Trailblaze spells the beginning of everything.
'Trailblaze…'
Shi Tian composed himself from the sudden 'headache'. It was a foreign sensation that hasn't occurred since a long time ago.
He shook his head as he looked at his surroundings. He recalled everything that happened prior to now.
'I opened the crystal left by Cyrene. It contains Fuli's deepest secrets essential to my Dao Integration Realm feat. Then…'
He found himself inside an unfamiliar yet familiar train car. The red carpet as well as its background spelled of one thing:
'The Astral Express.'
Rumble-!
The ground shook.
Shi Tian's divine consciousness swept over everything. To his surprise, he found the Astral Express crashing down. He detected two lifeforms present inside this separated cable car.
One was the former High Elder of Xianzhou Luofu's Vidyadhara, or rather, his reincarnation, Dan Heng.
The other was none other than the renowned Galactic Baseballer, the most unique existence in the universe who can house Stellarons inside her.
The Trailblazer.
He attempted to interact with everything, but to no avail.
'A Memetic Entity.'
Shi Tian wasn't new to this sensation. This was how it felt when he found Cerydra for the first time. The only thing that shook him was the difference.
He has the complete strength of a Void Refinement Realm pinnacle. Though temporary, he had fully inherited their karmaless trait, not bound by space and time. Shi Tian is free to interact with future projections and the temporal dimension alike.
The fact he remained as a Memetic Entity now showed it is far different from what he had expected.
'The final World Rendering Sword… it should be saved for later.'
In the end, Shi Tian chose to be a bystander. His current attainments with the Remembrance Path, sitting at 79%, made him aware of his surroundings' anomaly. It is a scene formed out of memories, much like the virtual projection of Cyrene from earlier.
The oddity of the situation confused him, though he made no other moves.
He watched as the outside changed from the starry sky to the land of eternal night, Amphoreus. The outside of the cable car blazed with bright crimson flames, forming a streak against the blanket of the night.
Bam-!
Shi Tian remained standing as the insides of the Express suffered from a huge shock. It was a different matter to its two passengers.
Dan Heng was fine. He groggily stood up from the corner of the train cable, clutching his bleeding forehead.
"Stelle..?"
His heart sank as he saw a torn opening in the middle of the cable car. Shi Tian went ahead and left first.
The familiar sight of Oronyx's temple greeted him, along with a girl's body lying in a pool of blood.
'That is right. She died back then. The one behind her gaze should be Fuli… the Fuli of this world.'
His golden pupils stared at the night sky. His vision caught sight of the "Titan" hidden within the temple. Through them, the expected gaze was channeled through. The familiar visage of a crystalline figure appeared. What he saw next made him freeze.
The pink elf wasn't there when he peered further.
Only the crystalline figure remained.
A conjecture appeared in his heart.
It is not Cyrene, but…
'Fuli..!'