Chapter 685: The True Face Beneath the Mask.

Lygus continued:

"The master of the countless memories we saw, the other important actor now stepping into the Vortex, they who have already burnt their own self to cinder — the Flame Reaver!"

Stelle clutched her head as a flash of white light swept across her vision.

When she opened her eyes again, Lygus and all that memoria had completely vanished.

Phainon stood beside her, staring at the overflowing chalice.

Meanwhile, Lygus stood not far behind them, still in the same spot from earlier.

Stelle’s gaze turned dazed. For an instant, she thought she was watching another memory.

But everything around her told Stelle that she had returned. Returned to the moment when she had been taken away.

This was the cycle she was most familiar with.

The 33,550,336th cycle.

Thud...

Thud...

Heavy footsteps came from behind.

Those footsteps, which had once represented nothing but an ill omen in everyone’s minds, now made them feel a strange sense of loss.

The Flame Reaver emerged from the darkness. Step by step, he walked toward Lygus, whose back was turned to him.

Slash!

A cold gleam of swordlight flashed.

Lygus offered no resistance whatsoever, allow the sword to cut through him.

The sound instantly alerted Stelle. She abruptly turned around and saw the head of the "Theoros" fly through the air and land before her.

Thud...

Thud...

The Flame Reaver did not pause. Holding his greatsword, he stepped over Lygus’s headless body and strode forward towards the two.

Phainon, standing before the overflowing chalice, seemed unsurprised by anything that happened within the Vortex of Genesis.

He emerged from his contemplation and slowly turned his head, his gaze cold and calm.

"So, in the end, you succeeded..."

"...Executioner."

Dawnmaker appeared in Phainon’s hand.

He turned around and raised Dawnmaker, pointing the tip of the blade directly at the Flame Reaver.

"With my flesh as kindling..."

"Light the first dawn of the new world."

Phainon’s voice overlapped with another, deeper voice belonging to the Flame Reaver.

As they spoke those words, the camera flickered back and forth between their faces.

Phainon held his sword upright before his chest with his right hand, concealing half of his face.

The Flame Reaver raised his sword with his left hand, assuming the exact same pose. The only difference was that in the Flame Reaver’s right hand was the ceremonial sword representing Cyrene.

The same movements. The same words.

The two figures overlapped on the screen.

And along with this scene, the audience’s minds began flashing back again and again.

From Aedes Elysiae onward, all the way to the final scene of the play they had witnessed: after the Black Tide swallowed everything, the Phainon and Cyrene of that cycle had discovered some truth beneath the apocalypse and chosen to embark upon a path different from every other Phainon in every other cycle.

Although they still did not know why identical Chrysos Heirs and another Phainon continued to appear in every subsequent cycle, one thing was beyond doubt.

The Phainon from the play had become the Flame Reaver and begun hunting them down.

The audience still could not understand why the Flame Reaver could kill his companions so easily, seemingly without the slightest psychological burden.

But Lygus had actually already given them part of the answer.

The cycles.

The shock the audience had felt when they first learned of the more than thirty million cycles was enough to make them understand.

Throughout such an unimaginably long span of time, every Phainon in every cycle had embarked upon the path of recreating the world.

And they likewise believed that the Flame Reaver had never abandoned his original purpose.

Beneath the facade of the executioner, there had to be something they still did not know...

Just as a person’s character determines their fate, this fated confrontation between the Flame Reaver and Phainon now made the audience feel the overwhelming presence of "fate."

Just like every cycle they had witnessed before.

However... Unlike every previous Phainon who had confronted the Flame Reaver at the end of a cycle, the one standing beside him now was an outworlder!

...

: This shot... I seriously can’t. Their figures gradually overlap, and the only difference is the direction their blades are pointing.

: This scene is fate taken to the absolute extreme.

: I’ve got goosebumps all over.

: When Phainon first reached the Vortex of Genesis to recreate the world, we were filled with hatred toward the Flame Reaver. Now we’ve returned to the moment of recreation again, yet our feelings are completely different.

: Wuwuwuwu, at least... at least the Flame Reaver, definitely isn’t some heartless monster...

: Yeah. Cyrene’s weapon is still as pristine as ever. Only his own sword has been twisted into that state.

: The Flame Reaver’s goal, and the truth behind why he’s doing all of this... we’re about to find out.

...

The battle erupted in an instant.

With the Flame Reaver’s BGM playing, Phainon and the Flame Reaver violently collided.

Their two greatswords clashed fiercely amid the flames.

Before this, no matter what terrible news Phainon heard, he had always managed to regain his composure within just a few words.

But that did not mean he wasn’t suffering. It was simply because an even greater responsibility weighed upon him.

But now, in this battle, Phainon poured all his rage and pain into Dawnmaker, demanding repayment from the person responsible for all of this!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal reverberated throughout the Vortex of Genesis.

Although the Flame Reaver remained every bit as oppressive as before and could still summon his clones, Phainon, who had now obtained Kephale’s Coreflame, had overcome his greatest weakness when facing the Flame Reaver. He could now launch a relentless assault without falling behind!

On top of that, Stelle had also joined the battle, assisting from the side.

The Flame Reaver was actually being forced back again and again!

Clang!

Another violent collision of blades. Phainon broke through the clone and charged straight toward the Flame Reaver.

Dawnmaker collided with the twisted black sword.

Sparks scattered everywhere, illuminating their faces in alternating flashes of light and darkness.

The Flame Reaver was suppressed by Phainon, raising his sword to block while being forced steadily backward. Yet he seemed completely oblivious to his disadvantage.

"Answer me... will you be the blazing sun..."

"Even if all creation... burns to ash..."

A hoarse voice sounded from beneath the mask.

"Go repent for your sins in hell!"

"Executioner!"

Phainon gave no response. He merely clenched his teeth, pouring all his suppressed emotions into his blade. With a thunderous impact, he jumped backwards!

"This ends now! With your corpse..."

"...I’ll ignite the dawn!"

Phainon drew back his greatsword and assumed a stance to gather strength before suddenly charging forward once more.

After landing, the Flame Reaver rapidly adjusted his posture, preparing to charge forward in the same stance.

But Phainon was faster! The instant the Flame Reaver had only just raised his greatsword, the white figure had already flashed straight past him.

Beneath the flash of swordlight, the Flame Reaver’s body instantly went rigid.

Phainon had already rushed all the way to the far left and came to a stop.

On screen, the two stood on opposite sides, each holding their sword aloft with their backs turned to one another, as though awaiting the signal for a duel.

But the victor had already been decided. Half a mask fell from the air and struck the ground between them.

The mask covering his face had been cleaved apart by Phainon.

The moment the audience realized this, their breaths caught in their throats.

There was no doubt that Phainon from another cycle was the Flame Reaver.

But they still couldn’t help wanting to see the face beneath the Flame Reaver’s mask.

More than thirty million cycles... What had that man, who for some unknown reason had stubbornly refused to reveal his face, ultimately become?

On screen... Phainon, who had his back to the Flame Reaver, showed no joy at having landed a successful blow.

Instinctively, he sensed that the Flame Reaver behind him was preparing another attack.

And so... The two, with their backs to each other, both swung their greatswords toward the opponent behind them.

Bang!

Another tremendously heavy collision!

The immense force made both of them take a step backward. Taking advantage of the moment as he turned around, Phainon saw the true face beneath the mask.

No matter how many times he had imagined the face beneath that executioner’s mask, no matter how much he had prepared himself...

At this moment, the other party’s appearance still left him utterly stunned, to the point that even his voice became dry.

"How is this possible..."

The Flame Reaver slowly straightened up and raised his uncovered face.

White hair.

A face that looked as though it were made of plaster.

No matter how one looked at him, he resembled some bizarre statue that was gradually solidifying.

And yet... His facial features were identical to Phainon’s.

At this moment... Because of Phainon’s previous strike, a massive gap had been torn open in the Flame Reaver’s head.

But what flowed from that gap was neither golden blood nor flesh. There was nothing inside.

Only blue flames burned within that hollow shell, pouring out through the opening.

At that instant... The audience couldn’t help recalling Lygus’s "introduction."

[He has already burned himself into ash.]

...

: The... Phainon... was turned into this...

: Oh my God!!

: H-His face is already cracking. He’s about to shatter.

: AAAAAH!! How did he break apart this badly?!

: There’s... there’s nothing inside him!

: N-No, stop showing me this! AAAAAAAH! Stop torturing me! Holy shit!!

: Just give us a quick death already!!

: I’m seriously going completely insane!

: miHoYo, what the hell did you raise Phainon into?!

: That innocent young man... how did he end up like this?! He’s become like glass...

...

His appearance was simply too horrifying. The audience couldn’t connect this figure at all with the savior they had once seen.

So "burned into ash"... hadn’t been a figure of speech.

He had truly been burned into this state. After learning most of the Flame Reaver’s past, the audience could only look at this face with horror, confusion, and heartache!

Another burst of intense BGM began. It was still the Flame Reaver’s theme.

But there were subtle changes. The music had become even more sorrowful, even more tragic and heroic.

Simply listening to it, the audience could already envision the hopeless road the Flame Reaver had walked, a road with no end in sight.

Yet within that despair, the Flame Reaver’s persistence became all the more chilling.

"The suns of destruction... now twinned..."

"Feel them set your blood ablaze... your fury...!"

The Flame Reaver rose again, paying no attention to how shocked the other him was.

He raised his sword once more. Like a machine, repeating an action he had performed millions upon millions of times.

"You..."

Phainon, who had never once hesitated on the road to recreating the world, actually faltered for a moment.

And it was precisely that moment! The terrifying sword light came crashing down with even greater ferocity!

The Flame Reaver wasn’t dead yet. None of this was over yet.

...

His appearance... His origins...

No! None of that mattered!

Recreation!! It absolutely could not be stopped!

Phainon gritted his teeth and swept his sword horizontally, shattering the Flame Reaver’s sword lights one after another before charging forward once more.

One clone after another appeared around the Flame Reaver, emerging even faster than before.

Every time Phainon destroyed one, another immediately filled the gap.

Amid the battle... The divine power of Worldbearing Titan erupted from Phainon’s body.

Golden radiance tore apart the night formed from black shadows. And on the Flame Reaver’s side, blue flames similarly erupted!

He floated in the air, raising his sword with both hands as countless clones appeared around him before fearlessly charging toward Phainon.

Amphoreus had not yet ended. Everything was not yet over. Former companions... And countless versions of himself.

In the face of this matter... none of them mattered! Recreation, it had to be stopped!!

Different obsessions, yet the same personality. It destined this battle to end only when one of them died!

But that... was only true for Phainon.

As for the Flame Reaver... He merely stood in the sky, silently watching the other version of himself continuously attack the shadows, trying to kill him.

Through this... He confirmed his resolve.

Although more than thirty million cycles had passed, and although that immense burden had already reduced him to his current state... This confirmation was still necessary.

Because the Flame Reaver had no room for error. He had only one chance.

Looking at Phainon, who was trapped by the clones... For the first time, the Flame Reaver’s voice revealed unmistakable emotion.

"Not enough..."

"This form shall fuel the fire... burn, burn unceasing!"

Amid the slaughter... Phainon heard the Flame Reaver’s words.

He had no time to think about why the Flame Reaver had suddenly erupted with such intense emotion.

Phainon simply took it as a provocation! His uncontrollable rage surged from his chest, transforming into flames within a forge.

Perhaps Kephale’s Coreflame had granted him even greater strength, or perhaps Phainon’s fury had made him completely disregard his own injuries.

He successfully broke through the blockade formed by the Flame Reaver’s clones. The white figure once again crashed toward the Flame Reaver like a meteor.

Unexpectedly... No more clones appeared around the Flame Reaver.

He didn’t even make the slightest attempt to resist. He simply allowed Dawnmaker to pierce straight through his chest!