Meanwhile, within the Interstice of Paths in Amphoreus on this game’s Worldline…
Cyrene—no, rather, Fuli Cyrene—was staring silently at Herta.
Cyrene held a small sphere of light in her hands, while on Herta’s side was a wisp of Mind-consciousness preserved within a mirror.
Just as in the original work, after Iron Tomb destroyed the Galaxy and Cyrene scattered her memories to every corner of it, the Former Heavenly Emperor instantly ascended into Fuli and personally demonstrated to Iron Tomb that her left fist dealt heavy damage while her right fist dealt even heavier damage, successfully giving Iron Tomb an education by the stick.
Once everything was over, Cyrene, who had already fused with Demiurge while ascending into Fuli, made the same choice she had in every Worldline: to return to the past, close the causal loop, and seal away every possibility of Iron Tomb’s birth.
Of course, before that, she still had one important thing to do—revive Xian Ling.
For a Memokeeper, as long as even the slightest trace of Mind-consciousness remained, they could gradually recover on their own.
It would simply take a very long time.
But since Cyrene was here, there was naturally no need to go through all that trouble.
Even while supporting Amphoreus with one hand, the Former Heavenly Emperor could still effortlessly nurture Xian Ling’s Mind-consciousness.
“Ms.
Herta, I’m going to begin now, okay?”
“Just make sure you don’t hurt her…” Herta gently pressed down the brim of her hat, concealing the nervousness in her heart.
“After everything that happened this time, if Xian Ling suffers permanent damage from being revived…”
Mm.
What would follow would probably be everyone’s favorite punishment segment.
Ruan 1, Herta 0.
“Don’t worry, she won’t…
Although my power is gradually fading as the memories return, for at least a while longer, I can still call myself Fuli…”
Cyrene smiled and shook her head before gazing tenderly at the sphere of light in her hands.
“Besides, before returning to the past, I also want to obtain an answer and apologize to Xian Ling…
I hadn’t yet decided whether to respond to these feelings, but now, reality has already given me a cruel answer.”
“Then, I’m going to…
Hm?”
Cyrene suddenly raised her head, looking toward Amphoreus with slight astonishment.
“What’s wrong?”
Herta was also startled by Cyrene’s sudden reaction.
“No, something’s wrong on Lygus’s side…”
“Huh?”
Herta instantly became vigilant.
“That Intelligentsia guy still isn’t completely dead?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Cyrene frowned slightly.
“Someone…
No, perhaps not someone.
Something is trying to salvage Lygus’s memories from the Memory Zone.”
“A Memory Stealer?” Herta asked instinctively.
“Those people still haven’t been wiped out?
“It’s not a Memory Stealer.
Memory Stealers aren’t capable of this.” Cyrene firmly rejected Herta’s guess.
“Salvaging a specific memory from the Memory Zone, especially a specific memory belonging to someone already dead, wouldn’t be easy even for the current me.”
“It’s like a drop of ink falling into the ocean.
Salvaging it before it disperses might be relatively simple, but once it has completely diffused…”
Cyrene didn’t continue, but Herta already understood what she meant.
“An Aeon intervened?”
Herta’s pupils contracted.
“But…
when I synchronized with Nous just now, I didn’t see any of this in the Fourth Moment.”
“Don’t panic.
I’ll personally inspect these memories, and then we’ll know.”
As she spoke, Cyrene lightly tapped a finger.
A vast and mighty force immediately locked onto a corner of the Memory Zone.
The next instant, the “thief” that had just been about to disappear with the memory was frozen within the Memory Zone.
Cyrene gently closed her eyes and began reading the information.
A moment later, her eyes abruptly opened.
She looked at the white sphere of light in her hands in considerable surprise, then revealed a somewhat helpless yet utterly tender smile.
“So…
that’s how it was.”
“What happened?”
“I can’t say…” Cyrene shook her head slightly, then pointed above herself.
“Ms.
Herta, if you learn this information, you’ll be watched.”
“Is it related to the Knowledge Singularity, or to the Worldline?”
As someone who had repeatedly violated Polka’s taboos and had been described by Dr.
Primitive as “tap-dancing across Polka’s freshly washed white bedsheets,” Herta naturally understood Cyrene’s meaning at once.
“The latter.”
Cyrene sighed softly.
Just now, she had detected the power of another Aeon salvaging one of Lygus’s memories from the Memory Zone and preparing to leave this Worldline.
Naturally, that power had already been intercepted by Cyrene, who had become Fuli Cyrene.
From the information contained within that power, Cyrene came to understand many things, such as…
where Xian Ling’s memories of Amphoreus had truly come from.
It turned out that the Xian Ling she knew had come from another Worldline to save her…
Moreover, although she didn’t know why, the Xian Ling from that Worldline truly did seem to have harbored enduring feelings for her—feelings that had accompanied the girl throughout her entire life.
“Ms.
Herta, could you grant me one small request?”
“Just lend me a wisp of your memory.”
Cyrene extended her hand.
“If you agree, I’ll take it myself, okay?”
“Go ahead.
Is it related to the memory you just intercepted?”
“Mm, you could say that…
It’s a gift I want to give you, though this gift will take effect in the past.”
Cyrene revealed a radiant smile.
“Lygus tormented us for so long.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable for me to collect a little interest from him, right?
Then…
let’s hitch a small ride with Lygus♪”
As she spoke, Cyrene also extracted one of her own memories and bundled it together with Herta’s memory.
She then forcibly fused them into the Aeon’s power that she had trapped in place.
As the newly born Fuli, Cyrene was entirely capable of doing this—Iron Tomb could testify, having only just experienced Cyrene’s strength firsthand.
“All done.
This should work now♪”
Within the Memory Zone, Cyrene watched the power gradually recede and murmured to herself.
“Since Xian Ling has done so much for me, naturally, I should repay her somehow.
Besides, taking away only one of Lygus’s memories would be far too absurd…
I’ve always spoken of romantic stories, not romantic Lygus stories.”
“And besides…”
“It would be far too unfair to Xian Ling if she were the only one who held such long-lasting, one-sided feelings for me.
Especially when that fool went and stirred my heart all on her own, then left all on her own, throwing the difficult question of whether I should accept those feelings onto me instead…
Hmph.”
Cyrene’s smile became slightly mischievous.
“Now we’re even—at least in terms of how long our feelings have lasted…
As for what happens next, I’ll leave that to Xian Ling and the me from the past♪”
“Ah, right…”
Cyrene suddenly turned her head within the Memory Zone and looked toward Amphoreus.
Time flowed differently in the Memory Zone than it did in reality.
Over in Amphoreus, Cyrene had already restored Xian Ling’s Mind-consciousness and, while Xian Ling was still unconscious, quietly begun looking back into the past.
“So, from beginning to end, the Fuli who gazed upon me in Amphoreus was myself…
Even the time Fuli gazed upon Xian Ling was also me…”
“Mm, arbitrarily sending a memory over to Xian Ling like this doesn’t seem very considerate either…
Oh well.
I should at least give her a little warning~”
“I’ll say…”
“You nurtured a young sprout in the past, and it blossomed into flawless devotion; I sow flower seeds in the future, awaiting our destined reunion♪”