Integrate the Kremnoan people into Okhema and maximize the power of this city.
Study under Teacher Anaxa and learn alchemy.
If possible, it would be best to move out everything from the Grove of Epiphany.
Research golden blood.
Although Amos knew the truth behind the so-called calculations, Lygus would never allow the Chrysos Heirs to pass down memories.
But if the Chrysos Heirs could really transmit memories through the Lost Realm, even if only occasionally, wouldn’t the next thirty million cycles become much easier?
These were Amos’s plans for the first cycle.
The facts proved that in the Star Rail universe, the wisdom of mortals simply had no meaning.
Not long after integrating Okhema, Amos opened his own small alchemy class.
There were only a handful of members.
Most were pink-haired beautiful girls, and a minority consisted of a white spherical unidentified flying object that seemed to be a “Pegasus.” On the very day the class opened, the Grove of Epiphany came under siege by the Black Tide, and Khaslana rushed over to help.
That same day, the Sky Titan suddenly went mad and attacked Okhema.
Amid the chaos, Cyrene asked Tribbie to open a gate leading to the Grove of Epiphany.
It turned out that clever as she was, she had long guessed that Amos, like Khaslana, was a transmigrator from the previous cycle.
And Cyrene had also guessed that the reason they could travel back and save the world was probably because of her.
So the question was, why could an ordinary beautiful girl become the key to rewinding time?
Cyrene had never forgotten that vague dream from her childhood.
After hugging the girl and saying goodbye, Amos returned to Okhema once more.
The ironic part was that the girl, frightened by the Sky Titan’s sudden attack, had willingly embraced the fate of becoming the key to the cycle.
But after that, the world became peaceful.
There were no Titan attacks and no Cleansers causing trouble.
Khaslana successfully collected eleven Coreflames.
Only the Coreflame of Time remained.
Without Cyrene, the destined Demigod of Time, helping them, progress in breaking through the Abyss of Fate was very slow.
As the Black Tide surged, eventually only Okhema remained in the entire world.
Mydei died again and again in battle.
There were fewer and fewer Teacher Tribbies.
Teacher Anaxa died together with a Strife Spawn while protecting Dromases in a caravan.
The only two pieces of good news were that Castorice and Hyacine remained in Okhema because they did not need to carry Coreflames.
Amos continued studying alchemy.
More than ten years passed.
Amos had long become Okhema’s chief alchemist.
Countless students studied in his classes, graduated, and stepped into the great mission of protecting the Sacred City.
Amos had thought the first cycle would pass quietly in research like this, until one day a student asked an extremely simple question.
Amos became annoyed and took out a notebook, telling the student to copy it ten times.
It was a beginner-level alchemy notebook.
With Amos’s attainments, he had long stopped needing to read such things.
So when the notebook naturally fell open, a slip of paper dropped onto the table.
On it was neat handwriting recording something completely unrelated to alchemy.
A cake recipe, along with experience gathered from many attempts.
“…” Amos remembered.
Before the Sky Titan attacked Okhema, he had once praised a certain cake for being delicious.
At the time, had he really thought the cake was tasty?
Or had he simply not wanted to disappoint the girl’s good intentions, so it had seemed delicious?
Amos did not know.
But the girl had remembered it.
She planned to make that cake many times until it became perfect, or…
until Amos no longer liked it.
Memories of the past surged through his mind.
Amos stood blankly before the Lost Realm for a long time before finally letting out a long breath.
The beginning of the second Eternal Cycle was even simpler than the first.
Because the moment he woke up, he discovered Khaslana standing not far away.
“What a coincidence.” The two of them did not need small talk, so Khaslana got straight to the point.
“Based on what we learned last time, I didn’t take all the Coreflames this time.” “Right now, Okhema has Teacher Tribbie, Lady Aglaea, and Miss Cipher, three demigods.
That’s enough to protect the Dawn Device while I’m out searching for Coreflames.” “That way, once I gather them all, I can keep protecting Okhema.
Even if the Dawn Device goes out, I can relight it using the Authority of the World-Bearer.” Looking at Khaslana’s somewhat excited expression, Amos, who knew he still had thirty million cycles ahead of him, said nothing to refute him.
With the experience accumulated in the previous life, Amos handled the integration of Okhema much more smoothly this time.
Although Aglaea and Cat were present in this cycle, the latter did not participate in city affairs, while everything the former did was for the sake of fire-chasing.
To Amos, persuading her was easy.
“I see.
I knew Kainis was one of the Cleansers, but I didn’t realize she was their leader…” “Your information is very valuable, but regarding your plan…” Aglaea’s meaning was obvious.
She wanted to make some adjustments.
Anyone with eyes could see that Amos’s method of integrating Okhema in the previous cycle had been very rough.
He used the Kremnoan people as a blade to cut open Okhema’s political system through violence, then reshaped the political structure amid the chaos while confiscating the resources painstakingly gathered by the various rebellious factions.
Without question, the plan achieved its goal of “integration.” It allowed Okhema to operate more efficiently and gain enough power to protect itself.
Aglaea’s evaluation of it was: very much in Cerydra’s style.
And that was exactly why she opposed it.
Because Aglaea understood Cerydra too well.
In the past, she had been gentle by nature and dissatisfied with many of Cerydra’s brutal actions.
But after truly taking control of Okhema and beginning to guide the fire-chasing effort herself, Aglaea realized that many of Cerydra’s actions had actually been choices made because there were no other choices.
The old Okhema had belonged to a small privileged class.
These people were short-sighted and incompetent.
Not only did they waste huge amounts of Okhema’s resources, but they also thought themselves clever and believed Cerydra could never rule Okhema without them, so they refused to give up power.
Whether for the sake of fire-chasing, for the ordinary people of Okhema, or for his own ambitions, Cerydra had to use the most violent means possible to announce the arrival of a new era to the city.
After the first fire-chasing journey ended, Aglaea learned from Cerydra’s experience and began supporting the Senate’s democratic reforms.
Although Aglaea knew very well that placing power in the hands of citizens would inevitably lower Okhema’s efficiency because authority would become dispersed, at the very least, it would prevent the emergence of an uncontrollable privileged class like the old nobility, and no one would be able to meaningfully oppose the fire-chasing effort.
Furthermore, a relaxed political environment would create a relaxed atmosphere in Okhema, helping cultivate the next generation of Chrysos Heirs.
Every citizen possessed rights.
That was a form of equality.
As a result, the people of Okhema naturally developed confidence.
Once they gained confidence, they would no longer fear the Chrysos Heirs as people had in earlier ages.
Instead, they would respect them.
Chrysos Heirs who grew up in such an equal environment would not become too distant from ordinary people to sympathize with them, and would therefore carry out their fire-chasing duties with even greater conviction.
And now, what Amos, who carried much of Cerydra’s style, wanted to do was destroy Okhema’s decentralized power structure.
Once the Kremnoan people gained fame through the Cleanser incident and secured an unshakable position within the Senate, people from the other city-states would voluntarily band together to limit them.
As a result, the political environment that had once been relaxed enough for citizens to freely express their opinions would become an arena where survival required joining a faction.
The Senate would no longer be a gathering place for politically minded elites.
Instead, it would become a cesspool where faction representatives spat at one another.
Such a system would undoubtedly be more efficient.
But it would also lead Okhema down a new road shrouded in mist.
Perhaps to Amos and Khaslana, who had already gone through several cycles, it did not matter what Okhema became.
After all, they would recreate the world again anyway.
But as a demigod, Aglaea felt obligated to care for every part of Okhema, even if it was only a vague and fleeting cycle.
Because…
What seemed like a meaningless cycle to them was a lifetime Aglaea could never forget.
Banquets, poetry, music, competitions, sculptures, theater…
The companions from the first fire-chasing journey had all disappeared into the tides of history.
Okhema was the only trace they had left behind.
No matter what, Aglaea wanted to protect those things.