In front of the three of them, memories from some unknown time were pulled out.
"To be precise… These memories belong to Kephale."
"What he once saw has been reconstructed."
Anaxagoras looked into the distance.
Within the Vortex of Genesis, three figures were gradually coming into focus.
"How did you do this? Reproducing the memory of the Worldbearing Titan?" Cerces was deeply shocked.
"Because I've established a certain connection with Kephale."
Anaxagoras replied calmly, "Rather than saying I'm the one displaying it, it would be more accurate to say it's happening naturally."
Cerces took a moment to process this information.
After barely accepting it, she had another question.
"Reproducing memories? Isn't that Oronyx's authority? Kephale can do it too?"
Hearing this, Anaxagoras gave Cerces a strange look.
"I guess this isn't some kind of temporal power."
"Because we haven't changed anything outside of Kephale. In another sense, we're currently inside Kephale's mind, just like how you were inside mine."
"If you rummage through my past memories inside my head, it doesn't mean you have memory related powers, right?"
With that explanation, both Cerces and Castorice understood instantly.
Anaxagoras's had succeeded. He had successfully established a connection with Kephale.
Naturally, they could also search through Kephale's memories. And the Worldbearing Titan was the very foundation of all of Amphoreus.
His memories were undoubtedly the most valuable thing.
Outside the screen, the audience finally let out a sigh of relief.
Anaxagoras's earlier performance, facing the Titan head-on, lingered vividly in their minds.
Combined with the feeling that the truth was now within reach, everyone was overwhelmed with excitement.
Because ever since they began watching Amphoreus, the impression of that world had been one ruled by divinity.
Prophecy. Fate.
The story of Mydei and Tribios especially gave people a strong sense of fate.
But now, at last, someone had stepped forward, defying divinity, defying fate.
Standing at the very foundation of Amphoreus, declaring that even the Titans could be conquered by human understanding.
As audience, their perspective naturally aligned with humanity.
...
: 66666!
: Insane! Anaxagoras is a real man!
: Even if rejected by everyone, he still had to verify his own conclusions, even if the opponent was a Titan!
: That scene just now was unbelievably cool! Holy shit! How can this man be so charismatic!
: Facing Titans head-on! Deconstructing Titans! This is human reason and courage!!!
: The pinnacle of rationality!
: Anaxagoras's character is written so well! Not even half an episode and he already feels alive!
: I can't take it anymore! I suddenly understand Anaxagoras' appeal!
: Attention, sisters! Stay calm!
: And most importantly, he succeeded!
: This directly proves the value of those studies! Everything described in the notes is real!
: Titans, golden blood, the essence of the soul!
: This is what makes Amphoreus so strange! It's definitely not just a simple world!
: Let me see what's inside Kephale's head!
...
The comments scrolled by.
And within the scene, through the vision Anaxagoras provided,
Cerces and Castorice could finally see those "shadows" clearly.
"Lord Gnaeus?!" Castorice stared at the man clad in a helmet and armor, exclaiming in shock.
Meanwhile, Cerces was fixed on one of the figures, one that looked exactly like herself.
"It really… looks exactly like me."
A Titan's perception was sharper than that of the Chrysos Heirs. When Cerces said "exactly the same," it wasn't just about appearance.
At a deeper level, it was a familiarity that came from the soul itself. To Cerces, it felt as if she were truly seeing another version of herself.
Then, a third figure appeared.
A girl in a wheelchair.
At the sight of the girl, Castorice's eyes widened even further.
And after her initial shock, Cerces' gaze began darting back and forth between Castorice and the girl in the wheelchair.
They were identical. Not just in appearance…
The audience watched this unfold as well, their minds racing.
...
: Ever since I first saw Polyxia, I thought she looked way too similar to Castorice.
: Could she be Castorice from the past?
: What?! Castorice isn't Chrysos Heirs, but a Titan who lost her memories?!
: A Titan right beside me!
: Honestly, that's not impossible. Castorice's past has always been a mystery.
: So the Death Titan is actually Castorice, always staying among the Chrysos Heirs? That's a pretty cool setup!
...
Questions piled up.
Though the audience speculated curiously, there was still no decisive evidence.
They could only suppress their excitement and keep watching.
At that moment, within the scene, Calypso, Gnaeus, and Polyxia, three figures that had seemed frozen, finally came to life.
Polyxia was recounting a past story to the other two.
But it was like a paused film suddenly fast-forwarded a long stretch.
It began at a point that left Anaxagoras and the others confused.
They didn't know what had been discussed before, or how the topic had started.
Only Calypso and Polyxia were moving, Gnaeus still stood quietly beside the Vortex of Genesis, as if he hadn't "come alive."
"Where's the context?" Cerces asked.
"Don't ask for too much. I can't decide where this memory begins or ends."
As soon as Anaxagoras finished speaking, he pricked up his ears, alert. Cerces and Castorice also fell silent, listening carefully.
...
Polyxia was looking at Calypso, smiling sweetly. Using the exact same voice as Castorice, but with a lively and gentle tone, she said:
"Have you heard of this tale before?"
"A tale about the Ocean God's treasured pearl, our hometown..."
"It was a seaside town which enjoyed the ocean breeze and glorious, peaceful times thanks to the wisdom of its ruling queen."
"Until one day, an evil dragon descended upon the town. Its wings were large enough to blot out the sun, while its claws were sharp enough to rip the waves apart..."
"It barged into the tall tower and devoured the queen's beloved daughter. It even settled itself in her bedroom, like a tyrant king."
"The queen assembled three hundred warriors, who managed to subdue the evil dragon by chaining it up. However, when the queen slit open the dragon's belly, she realized that the princess had long since been digested and all that was left of her was a pile of bones. Devastated, the queen wept for several days..."
Beneath the girl's sweet voice, what was told was a tragedy.
A dragon… and a daughter? The audience, filled with curiosity, continued listening.
"It was then that a devious, smooth-talking scholar arrived at the palace and suggested that the princess could be revived through the use of dragon bone and dragon blood. That liar called this process the secret art of "alchemy.""
"The princess was reborn. The queen was overjoyed, blissfully unaware that the evil dragon's soul still lurked within the princess's body."
"As revenge, the evil dragon swallowed the poor queen, the glib liar, the courageous warriors, and all of the town's innocent civilians in a single gulp."
"Worse still, the souls of the deceased were refused entry to the nether realm because they were filled with regret."
"Forced to roam the mortal realm, these resentful souls ultimately converged into a River of Souls, that would not retreat for a long time"
"The terrifying Death had consumed all. Thereafter, our hometown fell into ruin as well, until..."
The girl's narration was detailed.
Paired with her sweet voice, it made the story all the more unsettling.
But when she reached the destruction of her hometown, Polyxia suddenly stopped.
"…?"
"...Until?"
Calypso, who had been listening intently, looked at her, eyes full of curiosity.
"Until...? Actually, I don't know what happened next either."
Sitting in her wheelchair, Polyxia gave a sly smile.
"Oh my... It seems that you still like to whet people's appetites even after all this time, Polyxia."
Calypso shot her a mildly reproachful glance, then said, "Dragon, huh... I've heard this legend before."
Polyxia asked curiously, "In that case, what do you think of it?"
"I think that this so-called "alchemy" was a tenuous analogy added to the story by future generations. After all, you've never heard of a tradition of alchemy in your hometown before, have you?"
Calypso spoke with complete confidence, then continued. "Therefore, we can just treat this tale as a fable told to young children."
"A fable, you say...? If so, what moral is it trying to impart to the kids?" Polyxia asked with a smile.
"I guess it might be the concept of "equivalent exchange"?" Calypso replied.
"Oh? I thought the moral might be closer to something like "honor the dead."" Polyxia seemed a little surprised.
Calypso, who had originally taken the story as mere entertainment, now looked at her with interest. "No, I merely realized that we're both thinking of the same principle: If life is priceless, then there is hardly anything else in this world that is of equal weight to it, right?"
Seeing through her so easily, Polyxia smiled awkwardly. "Indeed. As expected of the wisest scholar in the land."
A trace of understanding flashed in Calypso's eyes as she smiled gently. "Heheh, you flatter me. Why don't I ask you a question as well, as a form of equivalent exchange?"
"Of course. What is your question?" Polyxia straightened up slightly.
"If I imparted my knowledge of the art of alchemy to you..."
"Would you use it to resurrect someone you loved?"
After Calypso finished speaking, Polyxia's mouth opened slightly in surprise. But she quickly reacted: "What kind of strange question is this...? Ah, I got it! You're just trying to get me to tell you whether I like anyone, right?"
Calypso thought she was unwilling to answer and was about to brush it off as a joke when, Polyxia lowered her head and softly said, "...Yes, I would."
"Death is inevitable. In the days to come, I am certain that someone whom I cherish deeply will leave me for good..."
"If such a mighty power really existed, I think... I would use it without hesitation."
"After all... You, me, and the rest, will all have to face that fateful moment eventually."
As her words fell, the sheer amount of information was enough to overload the audience's minds.
But this was only the beginning.
The next moment, Gnaeus beside them also moved.
The brightness at the core of the Genesis Vortex dimmed rapidly.
Gnaeus had also "come back to life."
The three stood around the Genesis Vortex.
Calypso and Polyxia, who had been telling a story just moments ago, now clearly felt as though a long time had passed since that conversation.
But to outside observers, it was only an instant.
The confusion of memory, and the flow of time, created a subtle, indescribable feeling in the audience's hearts.
Kephale had always stood here.
Perhaps the confusion and distorted sense of time they were feeling now… were exactly what Kephale had once experienced firsthand?