It was a vast, boundless sea of corpses.
Among them were men, women, innocent children, and elderly women. There were people Phaethon had once felt fondness for, and those he had deeply despised. But without exception, they were all the "people" that Phaethon's eyes had recorded, his system had archived, and that he carried heavily upon his shoulders.
Aha's mask was uncharacteristically stunned, its exaggerated grin even freezing for a moment.
The expression was like that of a magician preparing to perform his grandest trick, who had randomly picked a lucky audience member to join him on stage.
Only to be shocked to discover that this audience member was performing 360-degree Thomas Flairs, executing Iron Mountain Body Slams, and simultaneously going *pew-pew~* while casting Avada Kedavra!
This scene, which exceeded all prepared scripts, had instead turned the magician himself into the clown on stage.
In short... if Aha had been the one to reveal this, Phaethon would have been the "delight" being watched. But now, with Phaethon calmly exposing it himself, the unprepared Aha had instead become the "delight."
Phaethon leaned calmly against the windowsill, took a sip of the tasteless liquid in his cup, and gazed at the suffocating sea of people outside the window.
Among those dense, silent remains, the figures of several particularly familiar "selves," dressed in clothes from different periods, stood out starkly.
"You said this is an illusion woven by you, but in reality... its deeper foundation is my subconscious, isn't it?"
His voice was very quiet, carrying a trace of barely perceptible weariness. "I just didn't expect that even in the deepest recesses of what I thought was my safest subconscious, these 'people' I carry are still omnipresent."
He looked at those particularly clear "selves" in the sea of people. "Information has weight. Even if it's just a memory, it is another person's once-lived life."
"Though they are merely folders I've cataloged, whenever I think of their names, their memories appear before my eyes, over and over. While I gained their abilities, I also lost the right to forget them."
"To bear this excessively immense weight, I had no choice but to continually 'kill' the powerless self of the past who couldn't bear it... Only by constantly growing could I carry them and continue forward."
After a brief, dead silence, Aha's mask suddenly erupted in laughter.
The laughter started low, then grew incredibly loud, incredibly mad, filled with a kind of ultimate pleasure, as if discovering a treasure trove:
"Hahahahaha! Fascinating! Truly fascinating! Aha just wanted to find some amusement this time, but never expected... to find something even more interesting!"
"Your brother wants to use his body to contain all the Titan Coreflames, and you—my dear lucky Phaethon—you want to use your own soul to contain the souls of all the deceased?!"
"Aha is getting more and more curious now! What kind of earth-shattering final act will ultimately play out on this Amphoreus stage!"
"You are an existence who, in the subconscious depths closest to the 'true self,' is still stuffed full of all kinds of endless 'others'!"
"Your final outcome will either be that the sole 'self' is completely drowned out and assimilated by these countless 'others,' becoming an empty vessel... or—"
Aha's voice suddenly rose sharply, brimming with the excitement of finding a new toy:
"You will become the most unique, most inconceivable existence in this starry sea!!! One who has completely digested and fused all 'others'... a deity!!! A miracle that might shatter the universe's existing order!!!"
"What a pity, what a pity!" The mask circled Phaethon once, its tone exaggeratedly sighing, yet carrying great appreciation.
"If you hadn't yet found the true 'Elation' you pursue, and if Aha didn't also want to see whether Amphoreus will ultimately run with rivers of blood... Aha would seriously consider making you an Emanator of Elation right now! You were simply born to be one of Aha's people!"
Phaethon listened quietly, not much expression on his face.
Only after Aha finished did he slowly raise his hand and gently remove the invisible, smiling mask that had been on his face since he stepped into this place.
"I think, before my own true 'Elation' arrives..."
Phaethon's gaze returned to the bright light of the Dawn Device outside the real window, his voice calm yet containing immense resolve. "...It's better to let me finish this rather unpromising job of being the 'Deliverer' properly first..."
...
Returning to reality, Phaethon felt a slight dizziness, as if his soul had been forcibly dragged back from a warm, deep sea into a cold shell.
He instinctively rubbed his temples, trying to dispel the lingering aftertaste of the illusion.
Just then, that familiar, cold prompt tone sounded again deep in his mind:
[Detected duplicate folder. Overwrite?]
"No. Create new. Add '1' after the name." He issued the command with his thoughts almost reflexively, completing this long-ingrained habit.
*Knock—knock—knock—*
Suddenly, clear, rhythmic knocking sounded at the door, interrupting Phaethon's thoughts.
Phaethon took a deep breath, drew in all his exposed emotions, stood up, and opened the door.
Standing outside was Aglaea. She was still wearing that intricate, elaborate dress, currently tilting her head slightly as she looked at him, her jade-green eyes holding a trace of inquiry.
"Hmm? Aglaea '1', what brings you here?" Phaethon's tone was flat and unruffled.
Upon hearing this, Aglaea immediately wrinkled her delicate nose, her tone tinged with obvious displeasure. "I must say, you. You're wearing such tasteful, beautifully woven clothes."
"How do you manage to use this thirty-seven-degree-Celsius mouth of yours to utter such a cold and strange name as 'Aglaea 1'?" She deliberately emphasized the "1" to protest.
Phaethon just stared at her blankly, not responding.
"What?" Aglaea felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, but then her curiosity overcame her annoyance. "Is my reaction off? Or... is the 'Aglaea' you know different from... me?" she probed.
"No." Phaethon snapped back to the present, gently shaking his head, the corner of his lips lifting in an almost imperceptible yet genuine, faint curve. "You like this... is good. Very lively."
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that." Aglaea seemed a bit embarrassed by that hint of a smile and quickly changed the subject, her tone becoming somewhat complaining again.
"That fish from the sea—I mean Hysilens—just sent me a message. She says Cerydra has shut herself alone in the Hall of the Three Fate for a full three hours now, with no movement at all."