After that figure fully solidified in Welt's field of vision.
HUMM--!
Welt felt as if an invisible heavy hammer had struck his mind, leaving it momentarily blank, while a dull roar echoed in his ears.
Is this... right?
That familiar silhouette, that figure etched deep in his memory... No, I must be seeing things.
Welt instinctively removed the black-framed glasses from his nose, wiped them with his sleeve, and put them back on.
Uncertain. Let me look again.
His gaze locked tightly onto the figure in the air.
White short hair gently stirred by the wind, an upright posture carrying the solemnity of countless battles, and especially that outfit... the details might differ, but the overall style and color scheme were so strikingly similar to the "him" in his memories!
Good grief...! Even the clothes are the same!
Where has this brought me? Is this still Amphoreus?!"
A surge of absurdity washed over him, and abruptly, he seemed to hear Aha's maniacal laughter in that moment.
In the air, Phaethon's expression was as indifferent as ice. He slowly raised his hand, and the vast amber Crimson Tide surged and compressed in his palm, ultimately condensing into a massive meteor.
A viscous luster flowed across the meteor's surface, like a dying sunset, carrying the momentum to end all things, locked onto the core region of Okhema below.
If this strike landed, the entire Okhema, along with the living beings not yet fully transformed within it, would be completely solidified into a colossal, eternal amber tomb, with no possibility of further struggle.
At this critical moment, Welt forcibly suppressed the tumultuous waves crashing in his heart. The responsibility as the "Astral Express's Leader" instantly overrode his personal emotions.
He turned his head and urgently said to Trissha beside him, "Madam Trissha, please, immediately take Stelle and Dan Heng to the Eye of Twilight. That's the highest point in Amphoreus and should be the safest place right now."
"Uncle Yang?" Stelle spoke up, her face filled with worry. Dan Heng, though silent, his hand tightly gripping Cloud Piercer revealed his inner turmoil.
Welt turned around, forcing a reassuring smile onto his face, and deliberately made his tone light: "Heh, don't worry. I'm a seasoned 'senior' on the Astral Express. Against opponents below the Emanator level, I'm confident I can retreat safely."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the children's faces, his voice dropping a few tones, "Besides, I'm asking you to leave first only because I'm concerned that if the battle escalates, the scope of impact might be too wide, and I might not be able to protect you both."
Their conversation and actions were completely observed by Phaethon in the air, but he showed no intention of interfering.
In his eyes, the Crimson Tide would eventually cover every inch of Amphoreus, whether the Eye of Twilight or elsewhere; their final destination would be no different. Their struggles could not change the predetermined outcome.
"Haah..."
Seeing that Stelle and Dan Heng had obediently left, Welt took a deep breath, clearing all chaotic thoughts from his mind.
No matter who the opponent was, no matter why he bore that face, at this moment, stopping him was the primary task. He raised his hand, and the Star of Eden hovering in his palm, emitted a deep purple-black light.
"I never thought it would come to this." Welt's tone carried a barely perceptible weariness, but more than that, a sense of resolve, "Star of Eden, Zero-rated power output—Release! Pseudo-Black Hole!"
The humming instantly intensified! Before the Star of Eden, space shattered and collapsed inch by inch like fragile glass, and a purple-black sphere, comparable in size to the meteor in the sky, abruptly formed!
This was not an ordinary attack; it was a gravitational singularity, an abyss that devoured matter! An immense suction force erupted, relentlessly tearing and swallowing everything between Welt and Phaethon—the crumbling buildings, the falling amber meteor, even light itself!
This strike, powerful enough to shatter stars, finally caused a barely perceptible flicker in Phaethon's indifferent eyes. He gazed at the space-twisting Pseudo-Black Hole as if examining a novel work of art.
"Interesting," he commented softly, his voice remarkably steady without a trace of ripple. "A traveler from beyond the stars, yet wielding power that follows none of the known Paths..."
Before his words faded, his right hand casually reached to the side—a great sword encased in crystalline amber appeared in his grasp.
The form of that great sword was identical to the "Judgment of Shamash," and moreover, within the semi-transparent amber, a molten lava like glow slowly flowed, emanating a chilling heat and an aura of destruction.
"!!!"
The moment he saw that sword, Welt felt as if his heart was tightly gripped by an icy hand, nearly stopping!
Judgment of Shamash! White hair! Blue eyes! These iconic elements came one after another, almost scouring away the rationality of the "Herrscher of Reason."
But he still clung to one last, faint hope as he asked, "Who exactly are you? Why use this method to imprison the living beings of the entire world within this amber?"
Phaethon's gaze passed through the distorted boundary of the Pseudo-Black Hole, resting on Welt, and he calmly uttered a few words: "My name... is Asterion. This is... an act of 'saving the world.'"
"Saving the world?" Welt nearly laughed in anger. He forcibly suppressed his emotions and let out a long sigh,
"Haah... I admit Amphoreus is in what you call its 'end times.' But sir, depriving free will through eternal slumber—is this truly saving the world? In my view, this instead implicates many more who could have struggled to survive!"
"Indeed." Phaethon, or rather Asterion, did not take offense, merely responding as if stating objective facts, "In the face of the 'Black Tide,' the civilization of Amphoreus in this cycle has achieved what could be called brilliant feats."
"But precisely because of this, you, and many survivors of this world, are too naive. So naive that you've forgotten the existence before them is merely an insignificant microcosm of an endless cycle within the endless river of time, a chess move casually placed by the high and mighty Aeons."
"As long as Amphoreus's 'calculation' has not ceased, this tragedy will know no end. My method is the only solution to break this cycle of despair."
This sentence structure? This indifferent tone that looked down upon all living beings, viewing everything as chess pieces?
Welt's heart sank continuously, He was almost certain that this "Asterion" before him was most likely the counterpart of that "Kevin" from another world, the one who acted in the name of "saving the world"!
But he still needed one truly decisive piece of evidence.
Welt raised his head, his gaze piercing through the energy ripples dispersing from the Pseudo-Black Hole, tightly lock onto Phaethon's eyes, and asked the question buried deep in his heart: "Then, sir, in your view... why do birds fly?"