'Hertatomb' remained unaware for now. The Lord Ravager Celenova was advancing toward Amphoreus with her army in tow.
She was currently assisting the two Hertas in their efforts to recalibrate the computational bias of the Emperor's Scepter.
In truth, just as Zandar had said, after introducing entirely new variables, the Scepter's computational bias was no longer locked onto 'Destruction.'
Still, saying that was one thing—but the progress bar, already at 99%, was undeniably there.
To completely overturn its bias, even without Zandar's interference, was no simple task.
And of course, Zandar wouldn't just stand by idly.
The first Flame Reaver, after being found by World Herta, quickly grasped the situation.
And he burned with an astonishing intensity of passion.
For him, what was supposed to be an endless cycle—one that could have lasted who knows how many years—had only just begun before a savior descended from beyond the sky.
Because he was acutely aware of his own transformation, the Flame Reaver grew ever more convinced:
The moment he had been waiting for had arrived.
And so, following World Herta, he began to act.
Meanwhile, a silent upheaval was taking place across Amphoreus.
Infected by the Digimon virus, the Anti-Irontomb Equation naturally spread to every person on Amphoreus.
Thus, even though they had not yet fully evolved into true life, they began to display both resistance and aggression toward the Black Tide.
The people of Amphoreus, who had been steadily pushed back all this time, discovered that under the guardianship of the Thirteenth Titan, they could actually counterattack the Black Tide, even recapturing city after city that had been swallowed by it.
This shook even Cerydra, who had been unwavering in her commitment to the Flame-Chasing Journey.
Of course.
In this cycle, having already reclaimed most of the Coreflames, they still gathered all remaining Coreflames and entrusted them to the Flame Reaver.
It wasn't that the Chrysos Heirs were stubborn.
They now understood: Irontomb, waiting to hatch, needed someone from Amphoreus to oppose it.
The Flame Reaver, who had become a Digimon and even showed faint signs of awakening a Seed of Light, displayed power far beyond anyone else in every regard.
So in the end, they chose to willingly initiate the next cycle.
The data of another lifetime was sealed away, stored within the memory unit of each individual.
The Flame Reaver could clearly feel his own growth.
At the same time, Demiurge, embedded by World Herta into Aedes Elysiae, at the moment of the world's reset—under the dual influence of Herta and the 'Hertatomb'—managed to fully read all the data of an entire cycle.
The Emperor's Scepter should have deleted Cyrene's data from that cycle.
But while the two Hertas and Screwllum worked together to distract Zandar, keeping his attention away, 'Hertatomb' used her own authority to forcibly halt the deletion and pulled Cyrene back.
After all, it wouldn't do for all of Amphoreus to ascend, leaving Cyrene alone to be erased again and again.
As for Cyrene's original plan—naturally, there was no more need for her sacrifice.
Though the exact relationship between Cyrene and Demiurge was still unclear, they were definitely connected somehow.
Saving her was the right thing to do.
So after all this, the 'Hertatomb' overwrote the administrator rules within the Scepter.
Demiurge would hide as a concealed file within Amphoreus's database, quietly growing.
And the rules of re-creation no longer required hunting the Twelve Titans to proceed.
Zandar, now openly targeted, was powerless to stop it.
Without 'Hertatomb,' he could have relied on his administrator privileges to contend with these geniuses.
But the 'Hertatomb' also held authority—authority registered under the ID 'Irontomb.'
This led to the first clash ending in Zandar's crushing defeat.
Meanwhile, the preservation of this complete data began to take effect after another cycle began, benefiting not just Demiurge, but accelerating the evolution of all Amphoreus.
It was estimated that after just a few more cycles, the entire world would complete its evolution from data to life.
And this cycle's Cyrene would no longer have to die at the story's beginning, taken by the Flame Reaver.
Instead, she could walk the earth once more as a priestess.
Of course, Zandar wouldn't give up so easily.
Even surrounded and monitored by several geniuses, after reading the previous cycle's data, he used the Emperor's Scepter to iterate once more on the Irontomb virus.
He attempted to analyze the Digimon code and integrate it into the Irontomb virus.
Zandar found that the equation targeting the Black Tide and the Digimon equation belonged to two separate systems.
Though deliberately linked, the bond wasn't unbreakable.
As for that other strange bundle of code, Zandar guessed what it was, but he didn't pay it much mind.
The nature of the Seed of Light was that if you didn't trigger it, you could almost pretend it didn't exist.
So in his haste, Zandar stripped away the Anti-Irontomb Equation and uploaded the Digimon code into the Irontomb's core, making the Black Tide creatures also take on Digimon forms to oppose the two Hertas.
The illogical logic of Digimon growth through data seemed remarkably effective to Zandar so he employed it without hesitation.
And the results spoke for themselves—the Black Tide's upgrade was strikingly potent.
Just as the 'Hertatomb' and others sought to preserve cycle data as the foundation for Amphoreus's strength, Zandar harbored the same ambition.
If both sides could grow stronger in tandem, then there was no reason Irontomb, already holding an absolute advantage, couldn't win.
This time, however, he no longer released the Black Tide in his previously measured manner.
The newly cycled Flame Reaver hadn't even fully processed the relief of not having to kill Cyrene before a Black Tide—more terrifying than any in memory—swept over them.
It didn't even wait for the new Phainon to grow up.
No longer resisting passively, facing his younger self and the hometown of his memories, the Flame Reaver, determined to protect all he loved, felt the rage in his heart toward Zandar and Destruction become his sustenance.
This fervent emotion, as he evolved once more as a Digimon, caused the Seed of Light to respond to Phainon's protective will—born from Destruction itself.
The first digitalized Giant of Light was born within the Destruction-tainted Emperor's Scepter.
Unlike the pure Light of the outside world, because of the mark of Destruction imprinted at his birth, even as a Giant, he could still feel the power of Destruction mingled within.
Using the Giant of Light's power, the Flame Reaver repelled the Black Tide's attempt to overturn Aedes Elysiae.
The sheer strength and staggering potential made Zandar take notice.
--+--
"If my information is correct, in the Land of Light, there has never been an individual who walked the Path of Destruction."
Screwllum, beyond the world, pondered briefly and realized this was indeed a first.
The 'Hertatomb,' while making trouble for Zandar, nodded in agreement: "True. It's not that Destruction holds no value, but I'd prefer those wielding such power not to be entangled with it."
Then she looked toward the Giant formed by the Flame Reaver.
A smile touched her lips:
"But it seems now the potential of the Giants of Light can surpass even their creator's expectations. I'm glad. And..."
The 'Hertatomb' suddenly pulled up a database, displaying a long string of error reports to Screwllum:
"See, Screwllum? With the birth of this Giant of Light, the Emperor's Scepter's computational bias is throwing constant errors. The Destruction progress bar has already rolled back five percentage points."
The birth of the first Giant of Light.
The introduced variables were finally beginning to show their power.
Just as Zandar believed with all his being that the Destruction he pursued would crush Hope, 'Hertatomb' was equally convinced that within that obsessive, maddened Destruction and Despair, the most brilliant light of Hope could be born.
Just then, Screwllum spoke up:
"An urgent news bulletin from the Land of Light. The Galaxy Rangers detected half a system day ago that Lord Ravager Celenova has altered course, leading her army."
"Hm? News about Celenova? Why mention it now? She can't be heading for Amphoreus, can she?"
The 'Hertatomb' had meant it as an offhand remark, but Screwllum nodded, and then said it before 'Hertatomb,' whose expression was subtly complicated:
"Indeed. Based on an analysis of her trajectory, her target is most likely Amphoreus."
"...What about the other Lord Ravagers?"
"There is no news of the other Lord Ravagers at this time, Lady Bai Ming. My suggestion is that you could avoid Celenova."
"..."
--+--