"Because that wasn't you. That was Calypso, one of the Seven Sages of the Grove."
Anaxagoras's gaze burned as he stared at Cerces.
"...Calypso?"
"That's the name I made up on a whim when speaking to this girl. How do you know of it?"
"And surely you jest. Don't you think I, of all people, would know if that were the name of one of the Seven Sages under the shade of my tree? Don't you claim to know the Grove's past like the back of your hand?"
Anaxagoras spoke up.
"It seems you've lost even the memories seared into your soul."
"Use your head, Cerces. Since all of this took place in the realm of the dead, it stands to reason their likenesses are of souls from the past."
Anaxagoras turned, his gaze sweeping over Castorice and Cerces, and continued with a smile. "The living cannot step foot into that world, so who could they be? Think about Calypso. Why does she share your likeness, yet you have no idea who she is?"
"The answer is evident, is it not?"
"Those fallen heroes are the mortal incarnations of the Titans before their ascensions to godhood. The gods aren't master creators born out of thin air, and they are no different from humans, because they all evolved from one."
Even though the audience had already suspected this truth, watching Anaxagoras lay it out with completely self-consistent logic still drew admiration from everyone.
This was Anaxagoras. From the perspective of a mortal, uncovering such a truth would have been an incredibly winding and difficult process.
Yet he did it. After hearing Anaxagoras's words, Cerces and Castorice both stood frozen in place.
Such a statement that broke conventional understanding, even for them, required a moment to digest.
But soon, Cerces grasped the key point.
"You've answered nothing. If I truly was once human as you claim, then where do the children of humanity come from?"
It had to be said, Cerces truly lived up to being the Reason Titan.
Even though Anaxagoras had put forward such a rebellious claim, she still treated it as a question to be examined.
There was an unavoidable flaw in his answer, that gods were once human. In the myths and history of Amphoreus, the world was created by the Titans.
Only afterward did the Titans create humans. But according to Anaxagoras, Titans were once human, so where did those humans come from?
Previously, all origins in Amphoreus pointed to the Titans. If Anaxagoras wanted to overturn that conclusion, he had to find where everything truly began.
This was important, extremely important. And far more difficult.
Even Cerces could not think of how he could prove the true origin of everything.
"Heh, I knew you would say that."
Anaxagoras's smile widened as he looked at Kephale. "But it matters not. Why don't we have this supreme being standing before us tell us everything?"
"You can revive a Titan?" Cerces was a bit dumbfounded.
Resurrection?! Anaxagoras was even more insane than she imagined.
He curled his lips and said: "Humans cannot return from the dead. Neither can gods."
"But all we need to do is look at this from a different perspective, and the problem will resolve itself. The solution is simple: Just like what you did to me..."
"If I'm reborn as Kephale, I can rebuild the world and all within it as they once did. Simple, is it not?"
As his words fell, Cerces and Castorice's eyes widened slightly.
The audience outside the screen was even more stunned by Anaxagoras's true intention.
How do you explain the origin of everything?
Anaxagoras's answer: Why explain it?
He would become Kephale himself, restart from the beginning of the world, and naturally uncover the source of everything.
...
: Insane!!
: Anaxagoras… every single line is beyond my expectations!
: Holy hell, who can even predict what this guy is trying to do?
: When everyone thought he wanted to survive, he said he wanted to refine a Titan. When everyone thought he wanted to refine a Titan, he said he wanted to become one.
: Grab the Coreflame in one go!
: Anaxagoras: Simple, I'll just become the supreme being.
: Arrogant as hell, but somehow makes perfect sense. Truly Anaxagoras!
: I suddenly understand that line from the PV, "Without madness, there is no survival."
: 666!
: If Caenis knew what she brought into Dawncloud Cliff, she'd probably regret it to death!
: Hahaha, I don't care, this is too crazy, too fun!!
: This is exactly the kind of unpredictable character that makes things exciting!
...
The comments flooded endlessly.
Anaxagoras kept overturning people's understanding again and again.
And by following his line of thought, the audience was pleasantly surprised to find that previously disconnected clues were now all linking together.
The truth of Genesis… might be exactly this.
...
: The Flame chase journey is basically a process of proving this bold idea.
: In the end, the demigod who inherits the Titan's fire recreates the world and begins a new era.
: All the clues line up.
: This is the most reasonable explanation so far.
: Insane!! And I mean Cerces too, the Reason Titan spotted the flaw instantly.
: Yeah, if the Flame chase journey works like this, then what came first, humans or Titans? Where does the very beginning start?
: That's Cerces for you.
: So is Amphoreus constantly cycling like this internally?
: Each era produces a new demigod who inherits authority and continues the cycle?
: What's the point?
: Is it to avoid that Black Tide?
: But no matter what, the worldbuilding of Amphoreus is actually like this!
: This is fascinating!
...
The fog surrounding Genesis gradually cleared. But more evidence was still needed.
The cycle of Titans within Amphoreus had now been proven through Anaxagoras.
Yet along with it came even more questions that Coreflameed curiosity.
What is the meaning of this repeated Genesis? At least for now, aside from the Black Tide, the audience could see no necessity for it.
Even so, they could feel the truth gradually becoming complete.
However, no one expected, this was only the most superficial, most straightforward layer of truth in Amphoreus.
On screen. Cerces and Castorice both stared blankly at Anaxagoras.
Only after quite a while did they shake their heads. Castorice was shocked by her teacher's words… and by her own helplessness.
She didn't know whether what Anaxagoras was doing was right.
To desecrate Kephale, even to become Kephale. But Castorice had no way out anymore.
Death followed her like a shadow. She didn't want to remain as she was before, watching everything happen right in front of her with dull, powerless eyes.
And the only way was to rely on her teacher's help.
As for Cerces, after the shock faded, all that remained was intense curiosity.
What Anaxagoras didn't know was, the trial of the Coreflame of Reason had already begun the moment Cerces entered his body.
To be fair, after the sages of the Grove had mostly died, the person able to to carr Cerces Coreflame… was Anaxagoras.
For now, at least, Cerces was very satisfied.
Reason cannot be bound. The sages of the Grove had revered divine authority too much, looked up to the Titans too much.
But true reason bows to no one.
In the eyes of reason, everything in the world contains truth.
Thus, amid Cerces and Castorice's silence, Anaxagoras stepped beneath Kephale's body, a smile curling at his lips as he spread his arms wide.
"Are you ready?"
"The two of you."
"The truth is right before your eyes."
An invisible fluctuation erupted from within Anaxagoras.
This power was extremely subtle. Even within Dawncloud Cliff, very few could perceive it.
Cerces's figure flickered, she could feel the power of the Coreflame being drawn away.
"…When did this start?" Cerces gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "You really are quite something."
Anaxagoras sneered, speaking as if it were only natural:
"Of course it started when you hid inside my mind. The Coreflame is within my body, why wouldn't I use it?"
"Anaxa… I hope… you can achieve what you wish." Castorice lowered her head and sighed, retreating dozens of meters away.
She finally understood why Anaxagoras needed her help.
It wasn't just because of her uniqueness, but because at a moment like this, her presence could prevent unexpected incidents.
An invisible storm began gathering around Kephale's divine body.
Anaxagoras closed his eyes.
This was the first time he had truly closed them.
Because what these physical eyes saw had always been what this world, Amphoreus, wanted him to see.
And now, he would see in another way. An alchemical formula constructed from the Coreflame was forming within his own body.
At the same time, it was erupting around Kephale.
All his past research, the contents of those notebooks, countless day-and-night calculations, all his experience and knowledge, became the source of Anaxagoras's power at this moment.
His research on Chrysos heirs allowed him to easily connect the still-boiling golden blood within his body with Kephale from afar.
Countless studies of the starry sky had already made him aware of the falseness of Amphoreus.
And because of that, he gained a variable.
Everything in the world, once Anaxagoras closed his eyes, turned into cold, indifferent data.
Kephale's divine body was no longer a miracle to be revered. But a subject to be deconstructed.
On the screen, everything around Anaxagoras fell into darkness. Countless streams of golden blood boiled within the void.
Gradually forming a phantom giant, that was Kephale.
Meanwhile, Anaxagoras's body began to blur, transforming entirely into lines formed from golden blood.
The two, at dimensions and scales invisible to the naked eye, gradually merged.
Because of those alchemical formulas, the fusion proceeded smoothly, without the slightest resistance.
"Just as I expected."
"The connection between the Chrysos Heirs and the Titans is the closest of all."
"My golden blood… is steadily merging into Kephale's origin."
But at that moment, something unexpected happened!
Kephale's divine body remained silent. But the process of fusion was interrupted!
Anaxagoras's drifting consciousness immediately sensed something wrong.
"No… It stopped…"
"What principle is this?"
"That shouldn't be. As one of the Chrysos Heirs, my blood is already the closest to a Titan's purity in this world."
"Then… what is the reason?"
To Anaxagoras, it felt like facing a complex combination lock. Using alchemy and golden blood, he had unlocked the first layer.
But there were still second and third layers remaining. Something he had never anticipated.
As the fusion halted and he was about to withdraw from that mysterious state, Anaxagoras remained exceptionally calm.
He made a decision instantly. The Coreflame continued burning within him.
With its power, he temporarily modified the formula.
Turning fusion, into maintenance.
Since he couldn't fully merge with Kephale, he would maintain this state where each existed within the other.
The fusion stopped.
But the process no longer collapsed.
Just like when Anaxagoras had once stepped into the boundary between life and death, now, he existed in a state both merged with Kephale and not.
He returned back from the space and looked at Castorice and Cerces.
"Our time is limited."
"Unfortunately, I am not compatible with the supreme being, so I was unable to completely fuse their soul into my own body."
"But… I've already pried open a small crack."
"So, the question of which came first, the Titan or humans, I invite you both to witness it together!"
Anaxagoras's voice echoed through the entire place.
The two felt like they were being dragged into a dream-like state. When they opened their eyes, the place they stood was no longer the Dawncloud Cliff.
Instead, it was the Vortex of Genesis.