Cyrene sat blankly on the bed, slowly coming to her senses.
The suffocating chase just now, the fright in the corner, Elysia's smiling face suddenly peeking in... it was all just a nightmare that was too real and too terrifying.
Realizing this, her tense body finally relaxed completely, and she sagged back against the headboard like a deflated balloon.
But her heart was still pounding, and her cheeks were still warm.
(That's great... it was a dream...)
A sense of relief, like surviving a disaster, surged within her.
But then, the various details of Elysia's "enthusiastic care" in the Paradise's main hall uncontrollably resurfaced in her mind—the suffocating hug, the warm hands lingering at her waist and chest, the chin and breath resting on her head, and those pink eyes that always smiled yet seemed to see through everything... Cyrene's face flushed red instantly.
This time, it wasn't from fright, but from helplessness and a lingering... shadow.
(Miss Elysia... she... she really seems to like... touching...)
She couldn't help but pull the quilt higher, covering half of her burning face, revealing only a pair of moist, lingering azure eyes.
The Paradise is safe, Miss Eden and the others are very friendly, there are no Amphoreus disputes here, and no unfathomable pressure like Madam Herta... but... (it seems... there's a 'danger' here that's even more... more difficult to deal with than Madam Herta...)
Inside the hidden carriage.
On the soft long sofa, Madam Herta leaned at one end, holding a cup, her gaze fixed on Tribbie, who was curled up opposite her, hugging a soft cushion.
On the floating light screen in front of them, an image was frozen—it was a profile of Kevin Kaslana, silver hair, icy eyes, with a background of wind, snow, and ruins. Beside it, concise keywords were thoughtfully annotated: [Previous Era • MANTIS • Deliverance • Kevin].
Tribbie watched intently, her azure eyes unblinking. After a long while, she slowly turned her head to look at Black Herta, a complex expression on her face.
"Mom... uh, Madam Herta,"
She corrected herself in time, but the intimacy in her tone remained, "This 'Kevin'... and our Amphoreus's 'Phainon,' they're really similar."
She paused, seemingly trying to organize her thoughts, "It's not just a little bit similar in appearance, it's that... well, temperament? Feeling? Like... both are weighed down by something very, very heavy, walking alone in a snowfield with no end in sight. Even their hair color is similar!"
Black Herta took a sip of the slightly hot liquid in her cup, feeling the warm current slide down her throat.
She looked at the earnestness in Tribbie's clear eyes and nodded.
"Similar, yet different."
She put down her cup, her fingertip gently tapping the light screen. The image switched, revealing more fragmented information about Kevin—his stance holding the Judgment of Shamash, his silhouette before the Flame-Chasers' emblem, and finally, the frozen moment of his descent into the Sea of Quanta.
"What Kevin carries is the legacy of a Previous Era that has been definitively destroyed, and the mission to fight against a cyclical disaster called 'Honkai.' His path was chosen, and also one he was pushed onto by fate, with a clear goal—even if that goal sometimes seemed hopeless."
She switched to another image, a system-simulated image of Phainon, also with silver hair and a tall, straight posture, but with an Amphoreus twilight in the background, labeled: [Amphoreus • Golden Descendants • Phainon].
"And Phainon,"
Black Herta's voice was steady, "what he carries, along with all of you, is being trapped in an experiment spanning over thirty million cycles, an experiment aimed at salvation yet seemingly stuck in an endless loop. His suffering perhaps lies in repetition, forgetting, and the promise that 're-creation' is always in the next life. His battle is more for his companions beside him and that faint 'possibility,' rather than a specific enemy."
Tribbie hugged the cushion, her chin resting on the soft fabric, deep in thought.
"So... Kevin is fighting against 'destruction' itself, while Phainon is constantly getting lost in a long journey to 'avoid destruction'?"
"A very apt analogy."
A hint of approval flashed in Black Herta's eyes, "One faces a surging tsunami and must build a high wall; the other is searching for an oasis in an boundless desert, but the map to the oasis changes with every step."
"Then... who has it harder?"
Tribbie couldn't help but ask, then felt the question was a bit childish and smiled sheepishly.
Black Herta didn't answer directly, instead posing a question: "Do you think it's harder to be constantly battered by giant waves, soaked and cold, or to trek through an eternally dry, hot, endless desert, with your throat parched?"
Tribbie thought for a moment, wrinkling her nose: "It seems... both are very difficult. But if it were me, I might prefer the desert? At least... I wouldn't drown?"
She said, somewhat unsure.
"Kevin almost 'drowned' many times, but he also almost pushed back the tsunami with his 'high wall,'"
Black Herta's tone was calm, yet she spoke of breathtaking things, "Phainon... he doesn't seem to have found that oasis, but in thirty million cycles, he has never truly fallen. That in itself might be a miracle."
Tribbie was silent for a while, processing the information.
The light screen then automatically began to play overviews of other characters from the Honkai world, such as a certain overly energetic white-haired girl who liked to say "boobs are big enough," a certain purple-haired girl who cooked exceptionally well and always had a gentle expression, and a certain golden-haired bishop who spent all day thinking about resurrecting someone... As she watched, Tribbie suddenly chuckled.
Black Herta looked at her.
"I'm sorry..."
Tribbie covered her mouth, her eyes curving into crescent moons, "I just suddenly feel that... our Amphoreus story and this world's story, when viewed together, are like two completely different 'tragedy templates.'"
"Oh? Tell me about it."
Black Herta raised an eyebrow slightly, intrigued.
"You see,"
Tribbie sat up straight and counted on her fingers, "Over there, it's 'the world is trapped in an eternal cycle, and a group of people called Golden Descendants, led by the Flame-Chasers, embark on a tragic long march spanning countless cycles, hoping for re-creation.' It sounds grand and epic, right? But in the actual process..."
She thought of her companions' various struggles and couldn't help but shake her head, "it's full of personal struggles and... well, endless repeated attempts."
She pointed to some intense battles and sacrifice scenes from the Honkai world flashing on the light screen: "And this world seems more... 'direct'? 'Honkai' comes, civilization is about to be destroyed, so they fight! Fight with technology, fight with superpowers, fill it with lives, grand and spectacular, a mutual destruction. There's a clear enemy, a clear front line. Even if the ending is tragic, the process... at least isn't confused?"
Black Herta listened to her "comparative analysis" with its clear personal bias, and the corners of her mouth also curved slightly.
"You mean, Amphoreus is a 'chronic mental exhaustion type of tragedy,' and the Honkai world is an 'acute physical destruction type of tragedy'?"
"Yes, yes, exactly! That's what I mean!"
Tribbie's eyes lit up, finding Black Herta's summary brilliant, "Although both are difficult, the way they're difficult is different! Over there, it's like being cut by a dull knife, endless under the black tide; over here, it's... a meteor falling from the sky, bang! And then... uh, though it might also get hit repeatedly."
She stuck out her tongue, realizing her analogy was a bit too "lively."
"An interesting perspective."
Black Herta nodded, then added, "However, don't forget that the Honkai world also has its long cycles of civilization and obsessions that span eras. And Amphoreus, at some point, also faced the potential instant end brought by the Iron Tomb. The form of tragedy, perhaps, always oscillates between cycles and outbreaks."
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