Phainon and the others appeared on the gates of Okhema City.
"Aglaea, we're back."
Phainon nodded to Castorice, Cipher, and Mydei on behalf of the group, then turned his gaze to the golden figure connected to countless Golden Threads.
"Welcome back, triumphant heroes."
Aglaea's hands never stopped moving, still manipulating the Golden Threads to hold back the Black Tide's invasion of Okhema. But facing the few who had just gone through a struggle, she still took a moment to smile and acknowledge them.
"Aglaea, what should we do now? Should we return all the Coreflames directly and complete the Era Nova?" Phainon didn't waste any time and asked the most important question.
Aglaea was still the main decision-maker of the Chrysos Heirs, and she had also been the leader of the Flame-Chasing Journey for a thousand years. Even though Phainon had his own thoughts, he had to ask Aglaea.
After all, with her knowledge, she was bound to have seen more than Phainon. As long as there was nothing Phainon found extremely incomprehensible, he would unconditionally obey and follow her.
"...Let's wait a little longer." A moment after Phainon's words fell, Aglaea remained silent for a while before gently shaking her head, temporarily refusing Phainon's suggestion to return the Coreflames and complete the Era Nova right now.
"With several Demigods guarding us, Okhema won't be swallowed by the Black Tide so quickly. At the same time, the people of Okhema won't fall into the anxiety of the Black Tide besieging the city so soon. Take this time to get some good rest."
Aglaea made the decision she considered the most prudent.
"Hyacine and the others can rest, but I'm still in good condition, so I don't need to..."
"No one knows what will happen after the Era Nova. We must complete the Era Nova with full energy."
Hearing this, Phainon had no objections to the first half of what Aglaea said, but as for the second half, telling him to go back and rest, Phainon felt that he should pass.
Because two of his homelands had been destroyed by the Black Tide, Phainon believed that while the Black Tide was eroding Okhema, he should stand on the front lines, rather than contentedly going back to rest just because of a little fatigue.
Phainon thought this, but before he could finish his sentence, Aglaea interrupted him and gave a reason he couldn't refuse.
"This... Alright then." After hesitating for a moment, Phainon couldn't think of any other reason and agreed.
Aglaea was right about this. No one knew what would happen after the Era Nova, nor did anyone know if the Era Nova was real or a lie.
At least... at least the previous divine decrees had not been fulfilled since the Outworlder's arrival.
Neither Aglaea's Last Bath, nor Castorice's Last Embrace, nor Hyacine's Mending the Sky, these divine decrees had not been completed.
Aglaea's was still uncertain, but Castorice's Last Embrace and Hyacine's Mending the Sky were not completed because of the Outworlder's interference.
If the Outworlder hadn't interfered, these divine decrees would probably have been fulfilled...
But no matter what, for whatever reason, not being completed now meant they weren't completed. There was no need to search for any other excuses.
Thus, the so-called divine decrees had now become uncertain "prophecies" that could not be blindly trusted.
Before the Era Nova was completed, all preparations had to be made. This way, if the Era Nova were false and a scam, everyone could also react and resist it.
After Phainon agreed, Aglaea nodded and immediately turned her gaze to Lumina, Herta, Stelle, and the others: "Sister Lumina, you should also get some rest."
"The Black Tide is numerous, but with us here, it certainly won't be broken through in the short term."
"Fine." Lumina simply observed the difference in strength between the two sides and then nodded in agreement.
The Black Tide, having lost the Flame Reaver, would certainly not cause any harm to Okhema in the short term, but in the long term, that definitely would not be the case.
Of course, that was a matter for the future and had nothing to do with the present.
Future matters would be dealt with in the future, and Aglaea and the others had no better way for now.
Returning to her thoughts, Lumina held out her palm, a petal appeared within it, and she held it out to Aglaea, gesturing: "Little sister Aglaea, this is for you."
Seeing this, Aglaea didn't hesitate much or ask any more questions. She reached out and took the petal, then tucked it away close to her body for safekeeping.
Sister Lumina was so powerful that if she wanted to harm her, she definitely wouldn't need to use such complicated methods.
Moreover, Sister Lumina would never hurt her!
After spending some time together, the defenses in Aglaea's heart had completely dropped, and she had completely opened up, allowing Lumina to come and go freely, just like the others.
Only after Aglaea put the petal away did Lumina finally speak, explaining its function: "If you encounter any danger or a problem you can't solve, you can directly activate this petal."
"At that time, I will immediately appear by your side."
Actually, it was very similar to Castorice and Hyacine's situation, but Lumina had secretly placed a part of her energy inside their bodies, rather than in an object like she did for Aglaea.
But it didn't matter; Lumina would make it up to Castorice and Hyacine later anyway. There was no difference.
The main reason was that Lumina felt that while secretly placing her energy inside the beautiful girls' bodies to protect them when they encountered danger—the feeling of this kind of hidden protection and guardianship—was indeed good, it was still quite a bit worse than frankly and clearly presenting the words "I will protect you" in front of the beautiful girls.
At least in terms of increasing the beautiful girls' favorability, it was still quite a bit worse.
The former was an instantaneous increase in favorability, while the latter was a slow, long-term increase in favorability.
Both were very good, but Lumina felt the latter was much better.
Frankly telling them that she was guarding their backs would fill their hearts with a warm sense of security, and their bodies, minds, and spirits would gradually be occupied by Lumina's warmth, eventually becoming...
Another reason was that Amphoreus was located within the Emperor's Scepter, a world composed of data. Lumina was worried that if those Black Tide Viruses couldn't poison Okhema to death, the System might take further protective measures.
Even though Lumina firmly believed she could react in time when the System took further action, she still had to take some insurance measures.
If an accident occurred, Lumina would truly have nowhere to cry.
Literally nowhere to cry, because the whole world would be rebooted by then, wouldn't that be the case...
"Yes, I understand, Sister Lumina." Feeling the warmth transmitted from the petals against her skin, Aglaea's heart was instantly healed. She nodded with a smile, her face full of gratitude.
After Aglaea finished speaking, Lumina didn't think much more about it.
With a smile, she gestured to Herta, Stelle, and the others beside her: "Alright, let's leave this to Aglaea and the others. Let's go back to the room and rest for a bit."
"By the way..." Lumina paused, her gaze turning toward the interior of Okhema, "By the way, let's take a look at the condition of the residents within Okhema."
After Lumina made this suggestion, no one objected or said a word. It was obvious that everyone agreed with her proposal.
They all expressed their approval of this suggestion.
After secretly leaving a Mark on Aglaea, Castorice, Cipher, Mydei, and the others, Lumina walked toward Okhema City with the group who had just rushed over after fighting the Sky Titan.
She planned to take a good look at how much the extinguishing of the Dawn Device affected the people of Okhema.
Although... although she knew without even seeing it that the impact would be huge, she still wanted to see exactly how huge it was.
-
The group walked through the streets of Okhema City, feeling the anxiety of the people around them. They kept glancing at the sky, their faces etched with contemplation, confusion, and terror. Such expressions were completely normal.
In a place they had lived for so long, a place that enjoyed an eternal dawn, to not show such expressions when it suddenly fell into this state would be what was truly abnormal.
"Hmm... It's actually much better than I expected?"
However...
Although almost every face on the streets of Okhema wore such expressions, it was surprising that no chaotic scenes had broken out. Everything was proceeding according to the usual daily routine.
Aside from the extinguished Dawn Device and the azure sky turning crimson, if one ignored the expressions on everyone's faces, it seemed as if today was just another peaceful day.
"It seems that as long as no third-party forces cause trouble, the internal environment of Okhema will definitely be fine for the time being." After taking in the expressions of the crowd and sensing the emotions in their hearts, Lumina drew a brief conclusion.
The lack of third-party interference was thanks to Aglaea's earlier purge of the entire Senate.
If Aglaea had been even slightly softer-hearted back then, allowing the Senate to linger on, things would have been troublesome.
Faced with this apocalyptic scene, they would only need to give the people a small push from behind, and this [Eternal Holy City] would probably collapse in an instant.
The greatest disaster was truly eliminated before this apocalypse occurred.
Hmm... It was the greatest disaster on the surface. The truly greatest disaster was still that Lygus.
But he didn't seem to be planning to interfere right now?
At least Lumina hadn't sensed his aura within Amphoreus, so he must have gone to some hidden space.
As long as he didn't sneak around and do something disgusting and extremely unpleasant, Lumina was too lazy to care about him.
If he were a little sensible, he should hurry up and give up on this experiment of nurturing a [Lord Ravager] in Amphoreus.
Otherwise, Lumina would no longer be polite to him in the future!
Although Lumina had never been polite to him in the first place.
"It seems Aglaea publicized this matter in advance, allowing them to maintain their usual peaceful lives even in this apocalyptic scene."
Walking along the streets and listening to the conversations of the crowd around him, Phainon finally understood what had happened.
"Aglaea reacted quickly, and this method is also very effective, but it just can't last too long." Lumina nodded, showing her approval of Aglaea's approach.
After the Dawn Device extinguished and the apocalyptic scene descended upon Okhema, Aglaea immediately informed them of what was happening through the Golden Threads.
Of course, she told them in an extremely beautified manner.
In plain language, it meant Kephalos was a little tired and needed to rest for a while.
Although this statement was a bit absurd, as Kephalos's believers, they naturally had no objections.
The Great Priest had protected Okhema for a thousand years, so wasn't it normal for him to rest for a bit?
But even if they thought so in their hearts, looking at the apocalyptic scene, they still felt fear and panic.
This kind of emotion would return to normal after a while.
The most likely future for Okhema would be: panic erupts after the Dawn Device is extinguished, followed by a return to normalcy once no immediate problems are found, then a second wave of panic when it is realized the Dawn Device has not revived, leading to Aglaea's benevolent lie being exposed, hearts filled with dread, and internal chaos erupting within Okhema.
Ultimately, because the Chrysos Heirs and Demigods must defend against the Black Tide's invasion, they will have no time to attend to the internal turmoil, and Okhema will crumble from within and be completely destroyed.
Fortunately, there will be no problems in the short term, and this period will be enough for everyone to make all the necessary preparations to complete the so-called [Era Nova].
Whether this Era Nova is real or fake, since the Coreflames have almost all been returned, they have to try it no matter what.
This Era Nova might be fake, but at the same time, it might also be real.
The Dawn Device has already been extinguished, so as long as there is a chance, it is worth trying.
"Oh, right... I forgot to ask just now." Hyacine, with fatigue clearly written on her face, suddenly remembered something and spoke up abruptly, "The Sky Titan's Coreflame is within my body, when will the return be completed?"
"Hmm... Let's wait until you've rested." Hearing this, Phainon thought for a moment and made the decision on Aglaea's behalf.
The Coreflame Return Ceremony cannot be rushed, and in Hyacine's current state, it would certainly be impossible.
Aglaea must have seen this, which is why she let everyone go get some proper rest.
"Hmm..." Hyacine nodded without saying anything more.
Walking in silence, everyone quickly returned to their respective quarters.
After Lumina and Herta escorted everyone back to their rooms, they returned to their own.
The two sat on the sofa, and Herta was the first to speak.
"Come on, where's that Flame Reaver? You must have caught him, so let him out for questioning."
Herta knew Lumina well, and she also knew that the only one who could threaten demigods like Castorice in Amphoreus was the Flame Reaver.
Since the Flame Reaver wasn't on the battlefield, it was obvious he was in Lumina's hands.
Herta didn't believe for a moment that the guy could escape from Lumina.
After all, hadn't the great Lord Ravager, Phantylia, failed to escape Lumina's grasp?
"Let's see what the true reason for Amphoreus's endless cycle is." Lumina crossed her legs, her expression a mix of divine grace and indolence. With a wave of her small hand, the Black-Robed Swordsman, imprisoned within a thin green light, appeared in the room...