(T/N):Okay so this may be a bit confusing so here's what i'll do
Our main character will just be Phainon.
The phainon of this cycle is Phainon (TC) which stands for this cycle
And the Flame Reaver will stay as the Flame Reaver
The only exceptions (Where I will not add nicknames) are when the story directly states or gives obvious hints at which phainon is being shown right now
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Amphoreus.
A ruined city-state long swallowed by the Black Tide.
Dead silence was their eternal theme.
The next moment.
A ripple spread through space, golden light flashed, and Phainon slowly stepped out.
The moment he appeared, the surrounding silent Black Tide creations all stood up in unison, their crimson eyes locking onto him.
Phainon surveyed his surroundings, then gently extended his left hand.
The familiar Dawnbreaker quietly appeared.
"Thank you for the welcoming ceremony, but I still prefer to be alone."
Before he finished speaking, he shook his arm and swung a horizontal slash forward.
Hiss—!
The dark sword tore through the air, an invisible abyss opened on the ground, and the congested path ahead was instantly cleared.
He turned his head and looked behind him.
There, an even larger number of Black Tide creatures than those in front were gathering, forming a surging tide.
"Come at me all at once. Saves time."
...A few minutes later, the area returned to dead silence.
In the center of the scattered monster remains, only a platform violently cleared remained.
Phainon found a relatively clean stone step to sit on, quietly looking at the communicator in his hand with a shattered screen.
A faint red light emanated from it.
After an unknown amount of time.
A phantom figure appeared out of thin air before him.
Ms. Herta stood with her arms crossed, scrutinizing him from above.
"Your preparations are complete. However, your teacher has quite a temper."
Phainon subtly raised his eyes, his tone flat: "He's always like that; no need to pay him any mind."
"However, I quite enjoy dealing with him." Ms. Herta pouted and casually tossed two items over.
"Take these. One is a real-time recorder. Screwllum and I checked your data and found that Lygus had a backtrack point on you. Once the countdown ends, you'll be forcibly pulled back into that data crevice."
Phainon looked at the back of his hand.
A phantom countdown interface appeared, the cold numbers proclaiming his dwindling freedom.
72 system hours.
"And the second one?"
"The outfit changer you requested." Ms. Herta's tone held impatience, "Inside are a white and blue uniform and a black robe. I really don't understand your taste."
Phainon stood up and nodded slightly to Ms. Herta's projection, "Thank you, Ms. Herta."
This was precious time she and Screwllum had fought with all their might to secure for him; not a single second could be wasted.
"Regarding Teacher Anaxa, I'm counting on you."
Ms. Herta scoffed disdainfully: "I'm not your babysitter. Besides, your plan is too crazy."
Phainon didn't linger, turning and walking into the depths of endless darkness, leaving only a lingering remark.
"But you are Ms. Herta, you had already guessed my entire plan. To save Amphoreus, this is inevitable."
"Sorry, I really don't have time."
"And Stelle... I'm counting on you all as well."
His voice completely faded, and his figure fully merged into the Black Tide.
Ms. Herta's projection lingered for a moment, let out a helpless sigh, and finally dissipated.
—
At the same time, at the Divine Enlightenment Tree Garden.
Stelle, with her pink fairy "Mimi", as well as Castorice and Trianne, were rushing towards the highest point of the tree garden.
Along the way, they evacuated most of the people who hadn't managed to leave.
But one person was not among them.
Anaxa.
And the [Reason] Coreflames also disappeared with him.
Finally, they stopped at the platform at the top of the giant tree.
Stelle's gaze was firmly fixed on a black-robed figure in the center of the platform.
Black robe, golden mask.
There was no mistake, that was Phainon!
"Mee!"
Mimi, beside her, suddenly arched her back, letting out a wary growl from her throat.
Stelle was about to call out, but Castorice, beside her, reached out to stop her.
Castorice's brows were tightly furrowed, her gaze sweeping past the black-robed figure and landing on a man sitting behind him.
The man looked like he had one breath left.
"Cercis was right, he's indeed here." Castorice's voice was extremely solemn.
Trianne followed her gaze, then turned to the black-robed man, "Who is that guy in the black robe?"
"He is..."
Stelle was about to excitedly introduce him, but was interrupted by Mimi's more urgent squeals.
This fairy, extremely sensitive to auras, sensed a terrifying aura from the black-robed man.
Castorice immediately stepped forward, shielding everyone behind her, and whispered a warning: "Everyone, be careful! This must be the hunter from the Black Tide that Cercis spoke of!"
Just then.
The black-robed man in the center of the platform slowly turned his head.
His gaze, obscured by the golden mask, swept over everyone, finally settling on Castorice, and a hoarse voice, like charcoal rubbing, intermittently sounded.
"Not... a demigod?"
Mimi felt the terrifying suppression of power, her fur bristled, and she urgently barked at everyone, signaling them to flee!
"No..."
Stelle finally couldn't hold back. She pushed aside those in front of her and shouted loudly, interrupting them.
"Listen to me! He's not a bad guy! He's my good partner!"
As her words fell.
The entire scene fell silent.
Castorice:?
Mimi:?
Trianne:?
Even Anaxa, who was still feigning death, had his eyelids twitch almost imperceptibly.
Giant question marks appeared above everyone's heads in unison.
The Prophet... was actually in league with the terrifying hunter who emerged from the Black Tide?
Stelle was completely oblivious to her companions' collapsing worldviews. She jogged to the black-robed man and solemnly introduced him:
"Don't be so serious, we're all buddies..."
Stelle's words abruptly stopped, a strange wave of heat washing over her.
She turned to look at the black-robed man, "Why is your body temperature high again? Wasn't it fine before?"
The black-robed man looked down at her, his voice from beneath the mask carrying an extreme chill.
"Step back... or... die!"
"Oh? How fierce!"
Stelle smiled outwardly, but her right hand was behind her back, already summoning her baseball bat.
Something was wrong.
This person in front of her was not her partner.
It was Phainon, who had been burned to ashes in countless cycles, leaving only obsession!
The next moment.
A sudden change occurred!
the Flame Reaver moved without warning!
A gray clone, identical to him, suddenly shot out from behind him, the blade in his hand turning into a gray line, rushing straight towards Stelle.
Stelle instinctively raised her baseball bat to block in front of her.
Clang—
An ear-piercing shriek tore through the air, and the immense force made Stelle stagger back several steps.
"Before, I wasn't sure, but now I can confirm, you are not him!"
Stelle's eyes completely changed. She gripped her baseball bat tightly, staring intently at the black-robed man in front of her.
"Because he would never lay a hand on me!"
She finally realized that she had been careless, only remembering that the guide said Phainon would meet her at the Divine Enlightenment Tree Garden, but overlooked that the Flame Reaver would also appear here.
Before Stelle could recover, the Flame Reaver acted again. He pointed a finger at Castorice, "First slash..."
A gray phantom appeared out of thin air, their blade striking directly at Castorice!
Castorice's pupils contracted sharply. Before she could summon her weapon, she was sent staggering back by the powerful force. Fortunately, Stelle caught her, stabilizing her.
"Second slash..."
The next moment, another clone phantom appeared beside Trianne, slashing at her slender waist.
Trianne gasped, the space around her distorted, and she barely shifted half a step, but her clothes were still grazed by the sword wind.
Then, he pressed his palms together, and a dark, shattered greatsword slowly formed in his hands.
The sword pointed directly at Stelle, "Third slash... is enough!"
At this very moment!
Anaxa, who had been feigning death sitting on the wooden stump, suddenly burst into action!
His figure was as fast as lightning, his palm like a knife, and taking advantage of the black-robed man's attack interval, he fiercely plunged it into his chest!
Swish—
His palm easily pierced through the Flame Reaver's chest.
Then he pulled it out sharply!
the Flame Reaver took a step back, looking down at the hole in his chest, fragments of his body slowly flowing back.
Anaxa sneered: "Not a fatal blow, huh? Indeed, you are no ordinary person..."
the Flame Reaver slowly stood up, giving his final warning, "Hand over... the Coreflames... otherwise... die!"
Hearing this, Anaxa pulled out his shotgun and scoffed:
"Sorry, even if I die, I must drag the Triannes down with me! The Coreflames can never be yours."
The next instant.
'Phainon's terrifying aura erupted, and eight identical phantom clones appeared behind him.
Immediately, they charged towards everyone.
In an instant, the entire platform was in chaos.
"Stop this!" Stelle gritted her teeth, blocking the 'gray phantoms' frantic attacks while shouting, "Dawn has arrived! We are here!"
However, the Phainon in front of her had no reason left.
Seizing the Coreflames and preventing re-creation was the only obsession his reason, burned to charcoal by the Coreflames, could remember.
"Wait, no... Everyone, be careful!" Trianne felt an extremely ominous aura!
Before she finished speaking.
The Dawnbreaker in the Flame Reaver's hand ignited with an ominous black light, slashing towards everyone.
The sword's edge moved so fast it left afterimages.
No one knew how many slashes the Flame Reaver had unleashed at that moment.
After countless slashes, everyone fell to the ground.
Only Anaxa stumbled back a few steps, clutching his chest.
His eyes reflected the Flame Reaver's figure slowly walking away.
Anaxa gave a bitter laugh, "This isn't good..."
The next moment, the Flame Reaver leaped high, swinging the Dawnbreaker down towards Anaxa.
Seeing this, Trianne, behind him, began to gather light in her palm, preparing to forcibly open a spatial passage.
"Gate of a Hundred Realms..."
The word "open" had not yet left her lips.
But a hand gently pressed on her wrist, interrupting her spellcasting.
Trianne looked to her side, almost screaming in fright.
She saw a figure identical to the Flame Reaver, who had appeared silently beside her at some unknown time.
The same black robe, the same golden mask.
"Careful, Teacher Trianne!" Castorice struggled to summon her scythe, preparing to attack.
"Don't!"
Stelle, however, excitedly stopped her, her eyes blazing with light, "No, Castorice! It's him!"
"My partner, he's finally here!"
However.
The most confused at this moment was the Flame Reaver.
He looked at the existence identical to himself in front of him, his hoarse voice filled with confusion,
"Trickery... Cypher...?"
At this moment, Phainon also summoned the Dawnbreaker.
He didn't waste a single word.
With a flash of his figure, he met his insane self.
Bang—!
Two identical Swords of Utmost Darkness clashed in the air with a deafening roar, and the surging air currents shook the entire platform!
"Rest for a while..."
Phainon's voice clearly entered the Flame Reavers' ears, "The dawn of Amphoreus has arrived..."