Hyacine's changes happened all too suddenly. The spiral rainbow fluctuated rapidly in her eyes. Small and narrow slits started appearing on her head. These slits all opened at the same time, revealing countless spiral rainbow eyes.
It didn't stop there as it all appeared on her body, too. These 'eyes' seeped out black fluids—the same as Aquila's—making them look horrifying.
Anaxa saw his ex-student's suffering and felt his chest tighten. His mind flashed at the alchemical experiments that he held, though there was someone far more concerned than him.
"Hyacine!"
Phainon ran to her side without any other thought.
"Don't touch her!"
His hand froze midair, about to touch her back. Cerydra's words stopped him, his face turning grim.
This emotion wasn't limited to him; everyone else is like so.
"...The mind. Those who come in direct contact with the Black Tide, especially those who focus in the field of minds, become corrupted and turned into Black Tide creatures."
Anaxa's words brought realization to everyone. Cerydra also knew the 'solution' he thought of after their glances met.
"Dux Gladiorum, do you—?"
"Mhm."
Hysilens handed out the Coreflame in her hands. The dark-blue crystal has a 'rune' engraved in golden light. Amongst the golden rune swam a bright crimson light.
She placed her thumb atop it. The next second, Hysilens pulled 'something' out: a feather.
The moment it came out, it instantly 'sensed' Hyacine's dire condition. It flew straight to her forehead, transforming into a flying beast made of flames—a garuda.
Screech-!
Its body disintegrated with a single cry. Its bright red particles combusted into flames, sweeping around Hyacine's body. Like a piece of gasoline encountering fire, the black fluids burned away. The 'eyes' on her body melted like candle wax, turning into black fluids before meeting the same fate as the others.
Her cries of agony turned silent. Her spiral rainbow eyes remained wide open in shock. Hyacine blankly stared at the flames that helped her, which ultimately disappeared into nothingness.
Anaxa saw her condition and heaved a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, fortunately…
The 'Sage' he never met continued helping them.
It was this fact that rendered him speechless. Shi Tian never bothered hiding his knowledge of the future. Anaxa immediately saw this point the moment he received his 'gift'.
What was astonishing was the level of strength and wisdom one must have to account for countless ever-changing situations.
'He is playing against something… or someone. A chess game.'
He inadvertently looked at Cerydra. Anaxa had a hunch that this midget knew the 'Sage' all too well… which hit off the mark.
Just as they resolved one problem, another came.
…
Everything turned into complete silence. The world's sound was muted. Its color was deprived of a brighter hue. Everything turned duller after one blink.
'This presence..!'
Out of everyone, Hysilens felt it most vividly. Her Primum Mobile dictated her that the real Primum Mobile had descended—
Nihility.
She looked up to the sky. They are back on Okhema. The eternal day warded off the Black Tide, making it one of humanity's last bastions. Nothing changed in the bright blue sky. Only, a glaring pitch-black sun replaced the typical sun. The temperature dropped a degree lower, not more, not less. The sunlight it brought down carried a touch of imperceptible corruption, slowly gnawing upon others' sanity.
The effect wasn't noticeable now, though it is akin to an open book to Hysilens whose simulated Primum Mobile is Nihility.
"...Wake her up. We will proceed with returning the Coreflames."
Cerydra's words snapped them out.
"There are only two Coreflames left. Take Kephale's too, Deliverer. The Dawn Device won't be working for long… nor it needs to work for long."
"...Understood."
Phainon piggy-backed the unconscious Hyacine in his back.
After dispersing everyone, she gave Hysilens a sentimental look.
"The sight at the end of time… I am afraid it will replace the oceans I promised you."
They first met through Shi Tian's introductions. The latter's singing lured out the siren hiding in the depths of the ocean. Cerydra offered her a promise of her own to make Hysilens her Dux Gladiorum:
To conquer vast oceans and host never-ending feasts.
"...It does not matter."
Cerydra heard it as Hysilens' consolation. She missed out on the sincerity behind those words. A thousand years of feud never changed her. It wasn't the vast oceans nor the feasts Hysilens sought, but the time spent between the three of them.
Zoom-!
The sudden intrusion of a nimble cat ended their dialogue.
"Bad news. The plan failed…"
Drops of golden blood appeared on her abdomen, grazing it. Cipher held the golden coin with the four-leaf clover. A crack appeared in its center, splitting it in half.
"Where is he?" Cerydra asked.
"I don't know. He seems to be angry… and desperate."
Cipher's role in this fiasco has to be attributed to Aglaea. The latter knew about the Flame Reaver for a long time. She knew him well enough to predict the disruption he would create once the Flame-Chase Journey is nearing its end.
To that, she contacted Cipher and got her to 'hide' the real Coreflame of Kephale. She was supposed to lure the Flame Reaver out, buying time until the expedition team reclaims Aquila's Coreflame.
"What about the Coreflame?"
"That part succeeded."
Just as Cipher spoke of the Flame Reaver, his large robed body descended in their place.
"You do not know what you are doing."
His cold and harsh words held every ounce of resentment in his heart. He stared at the Imperator solemnly, partly confused as to why she kept steering the development in this way.
The Flame Reaver's eyes glanced at Kephale's statue behind them. He instantly realized he was duped. The Worldbearing Coreflame wasn't there!
"A terrible, irreversible disaster will descend upon Amphoreus. The cycle must never be completed. It has always been this way."
He looked at the blue skies. The Dawn Device, protecting Okhema from the Black Tide's erosion, worked as usual.
The only reason it retained its functions was solely due to Cipher's work. She used the Trickery Demigod's ability to fool all of Amphoreus. Everyone thought that the Dawn Device would work forever, but the truth was that it was supposed to shut down seven hundred years ago.
To ensure its operation, even Cerydra, who knew of its truth, blurred her memory of it. It wasn't until they reclaimed the Sky Titan's Coreflame did everything return.
"Are you aware of the foreign force high up in the sky? It belongs to another foreign god similar to the progenitor of the Black Tide."
Cerydra stood up to the Flame Reaver's questioning.
"Are we supposed to wait for our deaths, hoping that tomorrow will lead us to a better situation? This Imperator cannot sit still like that, not when a world is at stake—our world."
"...You will never understand."
With his current situation, the Flame Reaver made a decision. He couldn't convince the Imperator to drop her weapons.
'Irontomb will awaken. Another foreign god took root in Amphoreus. I cannot let this world head towards Destruction… I won't let this happen..!'