"But," its tone took a sharp turn downward, filled with the pain of disillusionment, "after we endured a bitter battle, finally defeated Aquila, and heard its shrieks of defeat and lament... we looked to the ground, full of anticipation, toward those people we had tried to 'save'."
"What we saw... was not cheering, not celebration, nor the joy of liberation..."
Lunabis's voice trembled. "We only saw indescribable terror on every single face! A millennium of faith overturned in an instant did not bring awakening, but the complete collapse of their entire fairy!"
Solabis added softly, each word seeming soaked in despair: "At the moment of victory, there was no glory, no celebration. Only a crowd driven mad by fear, crying and shouting, pushing and trampling each other. After the faith of centuries was overturned in a single day... they... degenerated into beasts acting on instinct alone, even turning on their own kind."
"This... this is completely different from historical records!" Hyacine couldn't help but exclaim, her face full of disbelief. "The myths passed down by the Skyfolk clearly state: In its grievously wounded state, Aquila sought mutual destruction, gathering its power to tear down the entire canopy of Amphoreus and hurl it at the earth as a weapon. It was to prevent this world-ending catastrophe that the hero Seliose chose to sacrifice herself, merging with the Titan's remains to seal it away!"
Phainon sighed, filled with emotion: "Erasing the cruelty of the process, the bloody truth, and the lament of the ordinary, while amplifying and glorifying the hero's final glory and sacrifice—epics and legends have always been like this, from ancient times to the present."
"Phaethon...?" Cyrene, however, noticed Phaethon, who had suddenly stopped in place, his aura becoming unusually intense. She called out softly, puzzled. She could feel that Phaethon seemed to have reached some kind of resolve.
"Cyrene, I'm fine," Phaethon did not turn around. His gaze was locked onto the distant Celestial Mural, still slowly shifting. Beneath his calm voice surged turbulent undercurrents. "I'm just sick of it... sick of Aquila's endless hiding and fleeing. This time... I'm going to force it into a corner, once and for all."
"Mortal... what do you intend to do?" Lunabis, sensing the terrifying destructive energy beginning to gather around Phaethon, asked with a tone of doubt and apprehension, his soul halo trembling slightly.
Phaethon slowly tightened his grip on the uniquely shaped greatsword "Judgment of Shamash" in his hand. The dark-red patterns on the blade lit up one by one, emitting a low hum. He took a deep breath and spoke word by word:
"I want to try... blowing the lid off this 'Eye of Twilight'! When that happens, let's see where it can still hide!"
Before his words faded, he acted without the slightest hesitation!
"BOOM——!!!!!"
Boundless dark-red flames erupted from the "Judgment of Shamash" greatsword like a volcano suppressed for ten thousand years!
The flames did not scatter but condensed into an incredibly thick torrent of energy, surging upward from below, crashing towards the sky!
Wherever the fiery torrent passed, space twisted and trembled! Fierce tongues of flame violently licked everything along the path—including the floating marble bridges, ancient architectural ruins, and the Celestial Mural itself!
This was no simple slash. It was like a red-hot branding iron burning through thin paper, piercing through untold layers of the sky fortress's ancient structures and barriers with unstoppable force!
Finally, under the utterly awestruck gazes of everyone present, that destructive torrent slammed viciously into the outermost dome shield of the Eye of Twilight!
"CRACK——RUMBLE!!!"
A soul-shivering sound of shattering echoed throughout the cloud peaks! Countless huge crystalline shards and architectural debris peeled away, falling into the boundless sea of clouds below.
Hyacine's homeland—this magnificent Eye of Twilight—had its upper half almost split open, severed from the middle! A terrifyingly enormous fissure tore through the entire city-state!
The pure, blinding "Sunlight" from the highest dome now poured, unobstructed, through the massive breach, into this domain sealed for a millennium!
Under Phaethon's deliberate control, amidst this devastating blow, only one screen at the very top of the Celestial Mural miraculously remained intact, operating with difficulty, displaying the image of the shattered sky. All other screens had fallen into endless darkness and deathly silence due to excessive heat or physical damage.
"Careful!" Hyacine snapped out of her immense shock, warning first. She pointed into the bottomless fissure depths below. "Don't go near the edge! There's an ancient energy pool beneath the Eye of Twilight, filled with boiling, seething liquid gold! Falling in would be the end!"
"Mortal! You... possess power capable of destroying heaven and earth?!" Solabis's voice was filled with unprecedented shock and a trace of unconcealable wariness. He finally understood why this group dared to face a Titan. "No wonder... no wonder you dare to challenge the Titan of the sky with just a handful of people..."
"Let's go," Phaethon's voice remained calm, as if that earth-shattering strike had been nothing. He retrieved the Judgment of Shamash, his gaze fixed on the sole remaining intact floating platform directly above the fissure. "To that platform closest to the dome. It's time... to bring destruction to Aquila."
Lunabis and Solabis's soul halos both turned to Hyacine. Their tones became immensely solemn, even carrying a sense of testing:
"Young Hyacinthia. Follow us to that highest platform. There, you will see the other, hidden side behind the legend. When you face the truth sealed away for a thousand years... will your steps remain as firm as they are now?"
"That truth is destined to shake everything you have believed since childhood. Girl... are you truly prepared to face it?"
Facing the heavy words of the two ancient guides, Hyacine took several deep breaths. She raised her head. Though there was still tension about the unknown in her eyes, there was more of a clear and steadfast determination:
"I am ready. No matter what the sealed history truly looks like, I believe all the ancestors of the Skyfolk will grant me strength from beyond, encouraging me to make the right decision. The weight of this mission spanning a millennium... is far greater than my own personal likes, dislikes, or private opinions."