While the audience was seething with anger, Aglaea still wore the same cold expression.
"Kind? There's no need to use such a word to cover up your..."
"Incompetence!"
Perhaps because of Caines's uninvited appearance, Aglaea's words carried an even greater sense of authority.
"Anaxagoras humiliated all of you before the citizens. If you still had any shred of shame, you'd throw yourselves from Dawncloud at the Curtain-Fall Hour to salvage the last fragments of your dignity."
The audience found these words immensely satisfying.
But before they could cheer, Caines let out a cold laugh and spoke.
In the past, hearing such humiliation would have made her fly into a rage.
Yet today, she remained unusually composed.
"Demigod, why not gaze into the water's reflection and see the wretched face you wear now?"
"These days you're not only blind but also deaf... The "Cleaners" were born for this moment. When all orders, rules, and laws fail to restrain you, it's time for the dagger to pass judgment."
Under Caines' vengeful gaze, a group of Cleaners quietly formed a semicircle and moved closer.
Aglaea looked indifferently at the approaching assassins, her expression unchanged.
"If you're in such a hurry, give it a try."
Just as the audience expected, Aglaea did not take these people seriously at all.
Not just her. The audience also found it impossible to believe that Aglaea could die at the hands of such insignificant thugs.
Even Caines herself did not believe it.
Caines suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hmph... going toe-to-toe with a demigod? We're not that foolish."
"The dagger isn't at your throat, but..."
As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward the bathhouse below. Following Caines's gaze, Aglaea instinctively looked down as well.
Within the bustling crowd, there was no obvious target.
There were only ordinary civilians.
Many viewers failed to understand immediately.
But the sharper ones had already turned pale, their fists clenched tight as a terrible premonition rose in their hearts.
Bastard! Could Caines really be using the lives of civilians to threaten Aglaea?
"Your gravest accusation is that my humanity is fading, and you claim my concern for mortal joys and sorrows is nothing but a facade."
"If that accusation holds... what makes you think the lives of these civilians will sway me in the slightest?"
Aglaea turned back around, folded her arms across her chest, and spoke coldly.
At the Citizens' Assembly, and even before that... Caines had constantly tried to bring Aglaea down by claiming she had lost all humanity.
So why, at this moment, did she suddenly assume Aglaea cared about the lives of ordinary people?
The smile on Caines's face grew even more triumphant.
In all her years of clashing with Aglaea, she had never felt this way before. Never had she felt that she had truly seen through Aglaea.
Caines knew that Aglaea's words only confirmed her suspicions.
She knew nothing, she still believed Okhema remained under her control.
No. It was no longer in Aglaea's hands.
It was in Caines's hands.
"Fine. I'll gladly use a few more words to shatter that demigod facade of yours."
Shaking her head, Caines spoke one word at a time.
"Like I said, you're not only blind but deaf too. Lately, your control over Okhema has weakened."
"You failed to notice the thefts we arranged in the market, nor did you catch wind of the meetings happening in the Dromas Workshop. Plots are unfolding right under your nose, yet you remain indifferent."
The audience had already tried their best to view Caines as even more despicable.
But after hearing this... they realized that even the word "beast" was an insult to beasts themselves.
Caines did not deserve the comparison.
Krateros had mentioned this matter before.
At the time, the audience merely thought Aglaea's control had weakened, causing her to miss the warning signs among citizens with criminal tendencies.
But they had never imagined... Those incidents had been orchestrated by Caines from the very beginning.
To strike at her opponent, she had willingly disrupted public order and damaged the lives of ordinary citizens.
The most ridiculous part was... The person doing all this was Caines.
A woman who constantly preached about citizens' rights and citizens' welfare.
From beginning to end, she had always been an utterly selfish and self-centered person.
However, at this moment, Caines laughed even louder.
"Humanity fading? Ha, Aglaea, why not use your precious golden thread to peer into my thoughts? See if the gift we've so meticulously prepared for you can move that cold demigod heart of yours."
Golden threads moved silently through the shadows. Aglaea had no intention of showing mercy.
But when she read the images hidden within Caines's mind... For the first time, a change appeared on Aglaea's cold face.
She slowly closed her eyes. She could no longer bear to look at Caines's hateful face.
The scene shifted.
What Aglaea saw was also shown to the audience.
It was a narrow alley. A little girl was talking with Aglaea.
Some viewers with poor memories did not recognize her immediately.
But as they continued watching... Everyone became completely furious.
"I want you to have this knucklebone talisman, big sis. I hope it brings you luck every day and keeps you safe from bullies!"
In the memory, the little girl held out a protective charm to Aglaea.
Hidden in the shadows, a masked Purifier was secretly eavesdropping.
At such close range, Aglaea would certainly have noticed in the past.
As for whether she retaliated and how she retaliated, it always depended on her mood.
But she would always respond somehow.
The Council of Elders and Caines both knew this.
Yet they did not care. Whenever they had the opportunity to send Cleaners to monitor her, they always did.
Even though countless previous surveillance attempts had already been discovered.
This time was different. After the Cleaner reported what he had witnessed... Caines waited and waited, but Aglaea never responded.
It was that single incident that made Caines feel that, for the first time, the demigod who had suppressed Okhema for nearly a thousand years was showing signs of exhaustion.
Afterward, the repeated riots and provocations were all meant to confirm her suspicions.
For the first time, Caines saw hope of defeating Aglaea. This was why that sudden Citizens' Assembly was held.
Everything had been part of a chain of events. It wasn't as the audience had imagined, with Caines suddenly going mad and convening a Citizens' Assembly to defeat Aglaea.
From beginning to end, Caines had been probing again and again. Only after confirming that the time was right did she convene the assembly.
That was why, back then, after failing at the Citizens' Assembly, Caines' faction had reacted with such intensity and madness.
Because in her eyes, Aglaea had already fallen into decline.
"Haa..." Aglaea let out a breath and sighed deeply.
"In this moment, I only regret not being more ruthless. Because your evil... is beyond cure."
Spreading her arms, Caines paid no attention to Aglaea's words. Instead, she spoke with cruel delight:
"Hahahaha, wickedness?"
"That girl who can't speak or hear... What if she accidentally lost her eyes too?"
"You know better than anyone what it feels like to lose your sight."
"Imagine if a thousand years ago, you, already blind, had also lost your voice and hearing in your youth, would you still have become the Aglaea you are today?"
She had completely lost her mind. If she could not have power, then there was no need for Okhema to exist.
She would use every ounce of strength she had left to destroy the present-day Okhema.
Those civilians. And that little girl.
Since Aglaea still retained her humanity, why not try to save them?
...
: ? ? ? ?
: What the fuck, is she a poet or something?!
: I CNMLGB!!! CAINES!!
: When the Demigod of Strife was fighting the Black Tide, how the hell did they miss her?!
: The one true villain of Amphoreus!
: Holy shit, I seriously can't take this anymore. Using a little girl to threaten Aglaea? What kind of human being does that?!
: Bastard!
: I!@#¥%*...
: I'm gonna send Caines' ancestors flying into the sky-
: Even the sun would erupt with solar flares if it saw Caines' ancestors.
: That's not nearly enough.
: Besides, who knows whether Caines even has ancestors worth mentioning!
...
The comments instantly became a sea of curses.
Caines was just too disgusting!! Too revolting.
A pure scumbag, using the most despicable threats imaginable against people of genuine integrity.
And she had succeeded. It was impossible for the audience not to be furious.
"Look at those broken, pleading eyes... how disappointing. We overestimated your cunning."
"If this plan fails, we still have dozens of splendid parting gifts prepared... Demigod, would you like to hear about them?"
Caines continued her mockery.
Overestimated her resolve? No!
It was Aglaea who had overestimated Caines' morality and bottom line!
The audience was completely enraged. And amid that rage, a dreadful premonition rose within them.
No matter how one looked at it, Caines' threat had worked.
Aglaea was absolutely not the kind of person who could watch civilians die and remain unmoved.
Especially when these beasts were willing to target children.
If Caines and Aglaea were to engage in a bloody battle here today, they had no doubt that the moment the fight began.
A massacre of civilians would begin as well. This woman had no limits whatsoever!!
Even if she failed. The utterly deranged Caines would only commit acts even more horrifying and irrational.
Even if she chose to welcome the Black Tide into Okhema, no one would be surprised.
At this moment, words had run their course.
The assassins surrounding Aglaea began to slowly advance. Meanwhile, Caines narrowed her eyes and waited for Aglaea's response.
The image began to flicker.
Aglaea's dim eyes, the civilians on the ground.
And even the entirety of Okhema, all flashed through her mind in that brief moment.
"In these one thousand years... I've witnessed the fall of ten Titans. From my naive arrogance at the beginning to slowly learning how to guide others..."
"Now... it's time to let go. I should be grateful... grateful that I've reached this moment, to let my departure become a path for others to follow."
Aglaea turned around, completely ignoring the assassins behind her, gazing instead toward the distant horizon.
There was a trace of reluctance, but also relief.
...
: No, no...
: No no no!
: Aglaea!! You can't just give up on yourself! You can't give up on Okhema!
: Holy shit... no way?
: Was Aglaea... driven to her death?
: I can't accept this ending! How could someone like her end up being forced into this?!
: B-But... it really seems like there's no other way.
: Caines can have no bottom line, but how could Aglaea be the same?
: The one who still wants to protect everything no matter how hopeless the situation becomes, that is Aglaea.
: Why?! WHY?! It's already the apocalypse, and people like Caines get to thrive while true heroes are driven to death! Just because they still have principles?!
: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!
...
The audience panicked. Completely panicked.
But there was nothing they could do. They could neither persuade Aglaea nor enter the screen and eliminate Caines for her.
All they could do was watch helplessly as Aglaea's will to live faded away.
There was no other way.
Her decline was a fact and Caines' desperation to reclaim power after losing the Citizens' Assembly was also a fact.
Ever since a thousand years ago.
Since Aglaea took up the Flame-Chase Journey. She had devoted herself wholeheartedly to maintaining the balance of Okhema, tolerating the existence of people like Caines.
Not because she lacked decisiveness or capability. But because Okhema's situation had been slowly growing more complicated and more dire.
Different city-states, multiple groups, and the approaching apocalypse, all required a stable environment.
By exercising restraint, Aglaea maintained the stability of the Council of Elders. In truth, she was preserving Okhema's fragile power structure.
A place with order was always better than one without it.
What happened today was not because she had made a mistake a thousand years ago.
It was because, after supporting it for a thousand years, this system could no longer endure.
As before, there truly was no other way.
"...Have I done enough? If I embrace that prophecy now and sink into the warmth of these waters..."
The assassins' footsteps were already close at hand. Yet Aglaea was thinking of something else.
"...will the wandering wind stop to mourn me, Cifera?"
When the civilians in the bath looked up amidst their laughter, all they saw was a golden figure falling from the sky and plunging into the golden waters below.