[Memoria recorded successfully. The entry "Goddess Rhongomyniad" has been added.]
I felt the Dao of Creation stir within me. Its presence is so minimal it could hardly reach my full power. Yet, it managed to 'create' something tangible by intertwining with a foreign power.
At this moment, insights regarding the Path of Remembrance flowed freely onto this Divine Mind of mine. The method of snatching, manifesting, and sealing 'memories' into 'Light Cones' came one by one.
Although I dubbed the Aeons as 'fake cultivators', their 'realm advantage' is similar to Herrschers. Below the Dao Integration Realm, their strength is unmatched. It is up to them to cause trouble to the entire world.
Remembrance can support my act of creating a tangible memetic entity (i.e., someone made of memories) that can exert great power. Its power won't change whether I summoned it inside the supercomputer that created Amphoreus or the outside world.
Looking at the beautifully elegant woman in a daze, I felt grateful. I could not help but notice her attractive curves amidst her revealing dress.
Kiana hasn't tried an outfit like that. Seele and Veliona too. It might not fit on Sin and Sirin, but Bronya's will…
…
I am a scumbag.
Years of living as "Merlin Shi Tian" made my mouth less stricter. It's not exactly a bad thing, but it's not a good thing either. I have mixed feelings towards that version of myself.
I did not wait for Aglaea to wake up.
"I'm heading out, Miss Aglaea."
*****
Clang-!
Sou-!
Two figures created after images outside Okhema. The tall Kephale statue could still be seen at such a distance.
Shi Tian eyed the thin long sword sweeping from his right. He tilted his standard longsword horizontally. He successfully blocked it, though his feet slid several meters on the ground.
Thousands of possible sword trajectories appeared in his sight. Hysilens' sword filled his entire vision. He remained calm, even sporting a satisfied smile.
'I should have done this more often.'
It has been a long time since he had a 'basic sword fight'. The unsheathing of his Tao Heart settles everything in one blow—with a conceptual sword atop that.
He charged straight towards her.
Amidst the sea of endless trajectories, Shi Tian found the 'correct answer'.
Clang-!
Sparks flew as Hysilens lost grasp of her longsword. Before she knew it, the tip of his sword was resting on her shoulder. He swiftly took it back before neatly sheathing it on a leather case.
"Ghost Fry… should I call you Sword Fish instead?"
"I'll pass. I prefer Ghost Fry more."
"Understood."
The two were chatting when they saw a bloodied cavalry from the distance. The strong iron-like stench overlapped with Cerydra's previous campaigns.
However, this was Okhema. Its one year of peace prevented any violent campaigns from recurring.
"Dux Gladiorum!"
The leading soldier bowed on his waist. His heavy armor clanked.
"What happened?"
Hysilens' calmness infected the soldier.
"An army of Black Tide creatures emerged from the valleys of Mount Epos. The cities nearby are engaged in a protracted war. We are afraid of the other side, Hyperborea…"
He did not explicitly say the rest, though it is the same as saying that Hyperborea is doomed.
Isolated by an entire mountain range, traversing it takes an entire month. If the Black Tide spread there, reinforcements wouldn't be able to come. Heck, even messengers might not be able to cross Mount Epos.
Hysilens gave Shi Tian a look before leaving. He was left alone, with no one being able to see him. Hysilens took the sheather sword with her, lest it would have fallen to the ground.
'Black Tide… Destruction's Equation.'
Recalling his memories of the last decade, it was filled with Cerydra's palace intrigue, warring over city-states, and the recent reclamation of Okhema. The news about the Black Tide doesn't easily reach Okhema, the city farthest from the edges of Amphoreus.
This doesn't mean that the Black Tide does not exist in this time period.
After the descent of Thanatos, which rid Amphoreus of their wide-scale immortality, the Three Titans of Calamity was completed—also known as Era Chrysea. It is also at this time the first case of the Black Tide was recorded. It spread amongst the three Titans first, though they did not lose rationality. It was their followers that did. Later on, it was Phagousa, the Titan responsible for Amphoreus' oceans, that fell first.
Okhema existed at the center of Amphoreus.
To its North was Hyperborea and the first city to accept death's grasp, Aidonia.
To its South was the Grove of Epiphany, the main headquarters of Cerces' scholars.
To its West was the Castrum Kremnos, the city-state led by the Titan of Strife himself, and the city-state of the thousand gates, Januspolis.
To its East was Phagousa's oceans, and by extension, the city-state of dragons and waves, Styxia.
For a long time, the Black Tide was confined on the western front, with Castrum Kremnos fending off hordes of Black Tide creatures. Januspolis is their ally in this regard.
The rest lived in superficial peace, which was why they had the time to commit to an uprising in Okhema.
'North… and East. They're slowly closing in.'
Shi Tian remembered what happened a thousand years from now. Every single city-states, except for Okhema, was shrouded in eternal night. All of them are consumed by the Black Tide. Only Okhema remained safe under Kephale's Dawn Device which warded it off.
'Remembrance, Remembrance…'
A lot of memories entered his mind. That included Remembrance's actions. The current cycle he was into, 15,015,021, was erased out of everyone's memories—including Amphoreus' hidden master, Lygus. It gave Shi Tian more opportunities to 'alter' this forgotten cycle's ending.
The rest of the world wouldn't remember this cycle, akin to a skipped period in a movie tape. Only he, the outsider, will carry onto these memories. That is to say, this cycle is destined to be hard-formatted due to Remembrance's autonomous actions.
As to why it did such an action, he does not know.
What he knows, however, is his current goal.
'To shatter the false infinity… is to give Amphoreus another ending.'
*****
A/N: If y'all know Amphoreus' true nature, it's all good. If not, it's also good. I wrote this arc while assuming others might not know about Amphoreus.