The two of them walked one after the other in silence toward the residential area.
Phainon followed quietly behind Castorice, maintaining a distance of a single step, no longer taking the initiative to speak.
The journey was wordless, save for the sound of the wind in the trees and the faint voices of elves echoing from afar. Castorice sensed the unusual silence behind her, and her mind was filled with a mess of conflicting thoughts.
Why did Phainon appear in this world? She had clearly never "pulled" him through the system.
If Hysilens' appearance could still be attributed to the special connection with Cerydra, then what about Phainon? Why was he in this world??
More importantly... which period of him was the Phainon before her? Was he the innocent and naive "Little White" from a cycle who had yet to inherit his memories?
Or... was he the complete form who ultimately bore the memories of over thirty million cycles, who knew every cause, effect, and tragedy, the one named "Phainon Khaslana"?
'Although I don't want to overthink it... looking at his demeanor and this deliberate restraint, the probability of it being the latter is likely far greater than the former...'
After all, if he were the Little White who was as pure as a blank sheet of paper, his reaction upon suddenly encountering a fellow Chrysos Heir in a foreign land should be undisguised joy and excitement. It certainly wouldn't be like this, carrying an indescribable... restraint.
Before long, Castorice and Phainon reached the residential area of the Shadow-fold Valley.
What met their eyes was Hyacine's busy figure.
She stood still among the wounded, her body emitting a soft, rainbow-colored glow.
That warm halo enveloped a large area. Wherever it passed, vegetation revived and pain eased. Many elves who had previously fallen into mental comas due to the Evil God's shriek felt their eyelashes flutter under the comfort of this brilliance as they gradually regained consciousness.
Even Clan Leader Thorne and the other two elders, who had been severely injured by gazing directly upon the Evil God's true form, had much ruddier complexions now. Clearly, Hyacine's treatment had yielded significant results.
However, as the saying goes, when gods fight, mortals suffer. There were always unfortunate ones who failed to receive protection in time.
Some elves whose spiritual power was inherently weak and who were not lucky enough to enter the spiritual protection barrier Thorne had deployed with all his might, or some who had also inadvertently glimpsed that unspeakable horror in the chaos... their mental worlds had completely collapsed under the extreme pollution and impact.
Some had fallen into endless madness, while others were like they had their souls snatched away, turning into living puppets unresponsive to the outside world, lying there quietly.
Even Hyacine's near-miraculous healing power seemed helpless against such root-level mental depletion and soul trauma; it was difficult to mend an inner self that had been completely shattered.
"You're back."
After a phase of treatment ended, Hyacine rubbed the space between her brows and turned to look at Castorice and Phainon.
Immediately after, Hyacine shifted her gaze to the white-robed people who were treating other elves, and asked with some confusion:
"Lord Phainon... these people wearing white clerical robes... they are?"
Hearing Hyacine's question, Phainon was taken aback. He clearly hadn't expected Hyacine's first question upon meeting to be this.
However, he quickly reacted and said:
"They... should be considered my companions. They come from an organization that likes to eradicate monsters and help others everywhere, an organization called the Church of the Radiant Sun."
"Church of the Radiant Sun?"
Hearing this name, Hyacine was visibly stunned. A trace of surprise flashed across her face before she realized: "So... you are with that 'Church of the Radiant Sun'?"
As she spoke, her gaze couldn't help but sweep over the white-and-gold-trimmed robe Phainon was wearing.
"Correct." Phainon nodded in affirmation. Then, looking a bit embarrassed, he scratched his cheek and added with a hint of awkwardness, "I am currently... well, technically a member of the Church of the Radiant Sun as well."
"This..."
Receiving an affirmative answer, Hyacine was momentarily speechless, her expression becoming quite subtle.
She couldn't help but recall those fan works she had seen in her original world where players often jokingly called Phainon "Radiant Bro." She never thought that it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Phainon really did become the "big brother" of this Church of the Radiant Sun.
"Sister Hyacine! I've gathered all the wounded we can find right now over here!"
Just then, a lively voice broke the brief silence.
Hong Guoguo poked her head out from behind a large tree not far away, her white cat ears twitching smartly as she waved vigorously at Hyacine.
"Alright, I've got it. I'm coming!"
Hyacine immediately composed herself, turning to shout a high-pitched response in Hong Guoguo's direction.
Then, she looked back at Phainon and Castorice, her face returning to the solemnity and seriousness of a physician. "Miss Castorice, Lord Phainon, my apologies, but I must go deal with the wounded immediately. Time waits for no one. Please talk amongst yourselves; excuse me."
With that, she didn't delay any further. Nodding slightly to the two of them, she hurried off at a jog toward where Hong Guoguo was.
In their original spot, only Castorice and Phainon remained. The atmosphere felt quiet for a moment.
Seeing this, Castorice was the first to break the silence.
"Lord Phainon, since there is nothing else for the moment, there are some things... perhaps we need a quiet environment to discuss in detail. Please follow me to my room for a chat."
Having spoken, she didn't wait for Phainon's response before turning to lead the way toward the secluded treehouse the Moon-marked elves had arranged for her. Phainon watched her back, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but he ultimately swallowed his words and followed silently, maintaining the distance of a single step.
Before long, the two arrived at the treehouse where Castorice was staying.
The furnishings in the room were simple, and moonlight filtered through the leaves outside, casting mottled shadows.
Castorice gently closed the wooden door behind her, sealing out the noise and bustle of the outside world. Then, she turned around, her purple eyes looking calmly at Phainon standing behind her, preparing to speak.
However, before she could say anything, Phainon seemed to have made a decision and spoke first.
His voice carried a hint of urgency and expectation as he asked the question he cared about most:
"Um... Miss Castorice, if I may be so bold, after coming to this world, besides Miss Hyacine... have you encountered... any other 'Chrysos Heirs'?"
"I have."
Castorice's answer was concise, without the slightest hesitation.
"Really?!" Upon hearing this, Phainon looked up almost instantly. A light of irrepressible surprise erupted in his unique golden eyes. He urgently took half a step forward and followed up quickly, "Who did you meet? Where... where are they now?"
"Cifera, Cerydra, and Hysilens." Castorice clearly stated three names.
Hearing these three familiar names, a look of "as expected, there are others" first appeared on Phainon's face. But Castorice's next sentence caused the surprise on his face to freeze instantly, turning into an expression of shock.
"It's just that... none of them are in this world anymore."
"Not in this world anymore?" Phainon's voice rose unconsciously, asking with an incredulous tone, "What does that mean?!"
"It means exactly what it sounds like, Lord Phainon" Looking at the somewhat agitated Phainon, Castorice's tone remained reassuringly calm. She explained patiently, "Not only them whom you seek, but even Miss Hyacine and I do not originally belong to this world. We... 'crossed over' from another world that is completely different from here and from Amphoreus."
"Another... world..." Phainon repeated the word under his breath, seemingly processing this startling information. The shock in his eyes was gradually replaced by a complex realization. "So... is that how it is... no wonder... no wonder no matter how I sent people to search everywhere or how much power I used, I could never find any information about you..."
"Sending people to search..." Castorice keenly caught the key information in his words and asked with an investigative tone, "Are you referring to those people from the 'Church of the Radiant Sun'?"
"Mhm, correct." Facing Castorice's guess, Phainon nodded. His emotions seemed to have calmed slightly. He took a deep breath and began to explain slowly, "This is a long story. It has to be told from shortly after I first arrived in this world..."
"After an... 'accident' that I also found difficult to accept, I woke up." His gaze turned somewhat sad as he recalled the moment he first arrived in this world. "My power didn't seem to have changed much, and there were no obvious scars on my body. But when I opened my eyes, what I saw was a completely unfamiliar sky, breathing unfamiliar air, in a completely unknown land."
"Here, I couldn't find any familiar traces. There were no Titans here, no fellow Chrysos Heirs, and even that terrifying 'Black Tide' had vanished without a trace... More importantly, I couldn't sense the presence of any of my companions..."
At this point, Phainon's voice grew low. He took another deep breath, suppressing the loneliness churning in his chest.
"In that moment, I even had an illusion... feeling as if I had been completely abandoned by my original world, 'Amphoreus,' like a useless part discarded carelessly in this completely strange corner."
A bitter, self-mocking curve pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"To be fair, this world... is actually much better than Amphoreus, which was about to be swallowed by the Black Tide. There is no heavy mission here for me to bear, nor is there that imminent crisis capable of destroying everything... I could live like a truly 'ordinary person'."
"But..." His voice suddenly took on a hint of undisguised desolation, "There are no 'companions' here. There is no 'family' with whom I once fought side-by-side, shared laughter and tears, and who have long been integrated into the traces of my life."
"However, this aimless searching didn't last too long." He shifted the topic, pulling his thoughts back to reality. "During my exploration of this world, my existence—or rather, the power I displayed—caught the attention of an organization. They witnessed my battle and, for some reason, insisted that I was the 'Holy Son' in their church's prophecy, inviting me to join them with great fervor."
He turned his gaze toward the window again, peering through the layers of branches to see those white-robed people in the distance who were still helping other elves. His eyes were complex.
"Those people are members of the 'Church of the Radiant Sun'... Well, although before I joined, they seemed to have an older name, called the 'Radiant Church'."
'Radiant Church?'
Hearing this familiar name, Castorice's heart stirred slightly.
'So the 'Church of the Radiant Sun' and the 'Radiant Church' that Shalin was searching so hard for are actually the same organization?'
The thought of that naive and earnest elf girl potentially still running around the vast world for these two names made the corner of Castorice's mouth twitch almost imperceptibly, feeling a hint of helpless amusement.
'Forget it, let her continue to temper herself. After the Moon-marked Clan settles down from this disaster, they should naturally send someone to contact her.'
Shelving her thoughts about Shalin, Castorice focused her attention back on Phainon's narration.
"So, you really joined this church, Lord Phainon? And even became their... 'Holy Son'?" she confirmed, her tone investigative.
"Correct." Phainon admitted frankly, nodding. "Initially, I naturally refused. I knew nothing of their doctrines or their god, and I didn't want to be bound by any organization. But... when they proposed that they could use the entire church's intelligence, personnel, and resources to fully assist me in finding those companions... whom I wasn't even sure had also come to this world... I wavered, and ultimately chose to agree."
His tone carried a hint of helplessness.
"Because I gradually realized that this world is far more vast than I imagined. Relying on my strength alone to find a few specific people in a sea of faces is no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. To find you more quickly and effectively, I accepted their conditions, joined the Church of the Radiant Sun, and became their nominal 'Holy Son'."
"And the church did indeed keep its promise." He continued, his tone carrying a hint of gratitude but unable to hide long-term disappointment. "After receiving the descriptions I provided regarding your appearances and abilities, they have been sparing no effort to gather information everywhere. It's just a pity... until today, neither the church nor I had ever obtained a single clue about the whereabouts of any one of you..."
At this point, Phainon's mood visibly plummeted, a shadow of exhaustion and dimness that followed long-held expectations falling through.
Looking at the dejected Phainon before her, Castorice pursed her lips slightly, momentarily unsure of what to say to comfort him.
To value the presence of "companions" so highly, with such sincere and overt emotion... it caused a certain previous guess in the depths of her heart to waver.
She couldn't help but recall the "Phainon Khaslana" who struggled in countless cycles to save all of Amphoreus, who was eventually forced by fate and responsibility to swing his sword at his former companions time and again until his emotions were incinerated and his humanity ground away, leaving only cold execution.
A person like that would find it almost impossible to reveal such pure and burning emotion for his companions.
If the Phainon before her were truly the complete form bearing the memories of over thirty million cycles, it was absolutely impossible for him to still maintain this appearance.
Then, the remaining possibilities narrowed down to two:
Either he was the Phainon from a certain cycle who had no memories of any prior cycles.
Or... he was a Phainon at a special critical point—someone who had unexpectedly crossed over to this world shortly after inheriting all the cycle memories, before that humanity and emotion belonging to Phainon had been completely ground away by endless repetition and sacrifice.