"Re-Creation... is wrong. The Coreflames... must be recovered. The cycle... must be restarted!"
The man in black's fragmented words caused the three people present to furrow their brows.
What did he mean, Re-Creation is wrong? And what cycle was he referring to?
Dan Heng pondered for a moment before turning to Phainon beside him. "Re-Creation... if I remember correctly, that's the ultimate goal of the Flame-Chase Journey, right? How many times has it been carried out?"
Phainon, however, shook his head. "The Re-Creation ritual has never been performed even once. And according to Teacher Tribbie, no one has ever performed the ritual in the past, either. So, I don't quite understand what he's talking about."
As he spoke, Phainon pushed his longsword forward a few inches, his voice cold as he pressed, "Speak clearly. Stop being so cryptic!"
The man in black fell silent for a long moment, as if in thought.
"Annihilation... The Irontomb..."
Hearing these two words, Dan Heng's heart skipped a beat. There weren't many things he could associate with that combination of terms.
Across the entire universe, there was only one possibility!
Lord Ravager, The Irontomb!
But hadn't there been news that Lord Ravager The Irontomb had been eliminated?
Phainon, standing to the side, only grew more confused. He simply reached out and went to pull down the hood on the man's head.
"I told you not to be cryptic! As a prisoner, don't you understand your situation... huh?!"
After pulling off the man's hood, Phainon saw a face that was almost deathly pale and riddled with scars, yet incredibly familiar! It was his own face!
Stelle and Dan Heng also saw the man's face. The former gasped, then whipped her head around to look at Dan Heng.
Dan Heng froze for a second, not understanding why Stelle was suddenly staring at him.
Stelle stared at Dan Heng for a moment before her gaze shifted back and forth between Phainon and the man in black. After a long pause, she finally said hesitantly, "Don't tell me... you guys are Vidyadhara too? Or can Chrysos Heirs also reincarnate?"
The tense and somewhat horrifying atmosphere was instantly shattered by Stelle's words. Dan Heng couldn't help but cover his face and sigh once more.
"Stelle, normally, when a normal person sees this, their first suspicion would be that they share a blood relation, not that they're Vidyadhara."
Stelle retorted, unconvinced, "Do you think I'm a normal person?"
"...Fair point."
Dan Heng simply raised a hand to signal for Stelle to be quiet. Phainon's mind was probably in chaos right now; if Stelle were to handle the questioning, he would likely only get more confused.
"Phainon, do you have a brother?"
Phainon shook his head with certainty. "I'm an only child. I certainly don't recall my parents having another one!"
Dan Heng nodded, then turned his attention back to the man in black. "So, who are you? Why do you look exactly like Phainon? Is it a disguise?"
"...Khaslana."
The man in black—or rather, Khaslana's—reply was terse.
Phainon was stunned, blurting out subconsciously, "That's my name!"
Dan Heng fired off several more questions, but Khaslana didn't answer any of them. Coupled with his earlier fragmented speech, Dan Heng began to suspect that this Khaslana's sanity was likely compromised.
"In any case, let's take him back first. There's something wrong with his mind. If we want to get more answers, we'll have to treat him first."
"Alright."
Stelle immediately took a leash out of her pocket, looped it around Khaslana, and had Phainon escort him.
Fortunately, Cipher and the MK2000 arrived just in time. Seeing that the three had successfully captured the man in black, Cipher, who was riding on the MK2000's back, breathed a sigh of relief. However, when she noticed the man's familiar face, her heart sank. She didn't say much, only beckoning everyone to climb aboard the MK2000 to return to Okhema.
---o---
On the way back to Okhema, Phainon and Cipher's gazes remained fixed on Khaslana's face, while Khaslana just kept staring at Stelle and Dan Heng.
This bizarre, silent atmosphere persisted for a long time until Stelle finally couldn't stand it anymore and was the first to speak.
"So, are we playing the quiet game? I lose!"
Cipher let out a chuckle. Seizing the opportunity, she briefly explained the preceding events to the three of them, including her ruse of disguising herself as Fu Zhu to maintain the Eternal Day.
After hearing her story, Phainon looked a bit regretful. "So does that mean you can no longer use the power of [Trickery] to bring back the day?"
Cipher nodded. Once a trick is exposed, no amount of lies can make people believe it again. Such are the limitations of [Trickery].
"Then do you know where my brother is?" Stelle asked anxiously.
Cipher's eyes lowered, her voice turning somewhat dejected. "I'm sorry, I have no leads on him... but I'm not entirely without a direction. There must be a clue in Aidonia! Cerydra must have discovered something to have gone there!"
The more she spoke, the more agitated Cipher became, clenching her fists.
"Before, I had to consider the ruse of the Eternal Day, so I didn't dare investigate Aidonia thoroughly. But now that the lie has been exposed, I have nothing holding me back. Once I've recovered, I'll make a trip to Aidonia."
At that, Cipher suddenly took Stelle's hands, holding them tightly in her own as she promised with utmost sincerity, "I promise you, I will definitely bring him back!"
Watching Cipher's solemn expression, Stelle couldn't help but wonder what on earth her old brother had been up to over a thousand years ago.
Why did the Chrysos Heirs' attitudes toward him seem so... ambiguous? If a few more showed up, wouldn't the Flame-Chase Journey turn into the Fu Zhu Journey?
Throughout this, Dan Heng sat to the side listening to the two girls' conversation. He was inevitably disappointed to hear that Cipher had no leads on Fu Zhu, but he quickly composed himself. He turned to Phainon and said, "Let's work on Lady Aglaea for now. This matter with Khaslana cannot be revealed to anyone."
Phainon naturally understood this.
"I already contacted Aglaea with a messenger slate on the way back to explain the situation. She has already arranged for people to receive us outside Okhema."
"That's good."
---o---
Before long, the group rode the MK2000 back to Okhema. However, they didn't enter the city directly, instead circling around to a side gate rarely used by anyone.
A tall and a short figure were already waiting there.
As Stelle and the others approached, the two figures immediately walked over. One of them was Tribbie, whom Stelle and Dan Heng had just met not long ago. The person beside her, however, was a completely unfamiliar pink-haired girl.
Once the group had dismounted Khaslana from the back of the MK2000, the pink-haired girl immediately stepped forward to introduce herself.
"Hello, you two Nameless Guests. I am Hyacinthia, a physician from the Twilight Courtyard. You can also call me Hyacine."