Welt said nothing more. He simply steadied the Star of Eden in his grip, raising it level, its tip pointing directly at Phaethon.

In the void behind him, light flickered as one after another sci-fi hovering turrets, flowing with blue luminescence, were rapidly constructed and deployed by the authority of "Reason." Their cold muzzles adjusted angles in unison, all locking onto the figure before him.

With the most direct action, he gave his answer.

Phaethon quietly gazed at Welt’s eyes behind his glasses—eyes that held not a trace of wavering, only a burning, steadfast will.

He let out a faint, nearly inaudible sigh, one tinged with a complex emotion.

Then—

Hum——!!!

The entire data layer, this cold world woven from "0"s and "1"s, began to churn and distort like a lake struck by a boulder, experiencing unprecedented, violent upheaval!

Rules were rewritten at will under Phaethon’s command.

He merely raised a single hand. The next moment, boundless fluorescent green data streams, like an army following orders, furiously converged and wove together above Welt’s head...

Finally, amidst the screech of metal and the hum of energy condensation, Phaethon completed his understanding and reconstruction!

One after another, hovering cannon barrels, identical to the ones Welt had just constructed—down to the finest detail—materialized from thin air as if copy-pasted.

They crowded together, forming a ring-shaped barrier floating beside him, completely encircling Welt at the center.

But what chilled Welt to the bone even more was that the moment these cannons, created by Phaethon, finished materializing, they uniformly adjusted their angles, locking all their destructive energy onto him!

Welt stared at the countless muzzles aimed at him, so familiar they hurt. The color drained from his face, and his body went rigid in an instant.

Was Amphoreus Welt Yang’s personal nightmare?

Good news: everything he faced was a memory.

Bad news: everything he faced were memories trying to kill him.

From the moment he’d seen that face so hauntingly similar to Kevin’s, Welt felt as if all the malice in the world had found an outlet, vying with each other to "kiss" him.

Not only that, each blow landed squarely on his psychological shadows or his most vulnerable points.

Phaethon stood silently outside the artillery formation he had created, calmly observing Welt trapped within. His gaze was like that of someone observing a foreordained conclusion.

"To be honest," Phaethon began, his voice still clear despite the hum of charging cannons, "I don’t want to kill you."

His words made Welt pause slightly.

"Because fighting you," Phaethon’s eyes seemed to flicker with vague, fragmented images, "has helped me gradually remember many things... memories I thought I had long forgotten."

His tone carried a subtle trace of wistfulness.

"I once believed they had been washed away without a trace by the vast, passively borne ’memories’ and ’destiny.’ After all... compared to the things I am forced to remember, the memories that truly belong to ’Phaethon’ as an individual are far too insignificant and fragmented."

The cannons in the sky had finished charging. They emitted a chilling hum; the light of destruction was about to erupt.

"Forgive me," Phaethon’s voice returned to its previous calm, as if that flicker of nostalgia had been an illusion. "But the Trailblazing journey of the Astral Express will not come to an end in Amphoreus. Of that, I assure you."

He raised his hand, seemingly about to issue the final attack command.

But just at that moment—

Crack!!!

A crisp, unmistakable sound, like shattering glass, pierced through the entire data layer!

The pitch-black firmament above, woven from "0"s and "1"s, was brutally torn open by an overwhelmingly violent force, creating an irregular gash!

Then, not data-simulated light, but real, warm sunlight—sunlight carrying the resolve to burn all things—poured through the rift, precisely falling upon Phaethon’s face, illuminating his indifferent expression with stark clarity.

That light originated from outside the domain of "Erudition." It came from the blazing sun hanging in the real skies of Amphoreus—the sun of "Destruction," symbolizing the end!

At the same moment, a steady and familiar voice pierced through the crack, ringing clearly in this space:

"Phaethon, this time, it’s my turn to deny your ’Deliverance’!"

Hot on its heels came a female voice, her tone equally brooking no argument:

"Mm-hmm~ Little Phaethon, your sister Cyrene won’t allow you to do anything irreversibly foolish all on your own, you know. ♪"

...

In the world of "0"s and "1"s, the forcibly torn rift continued to widen.

The light of the sun of Destruction flooded in like a tide, dispelling the cold binary darkness.

Along with the blazing sunlight came countless drifting, diamond-dust-like ice crystal fragments, swirling around a slender figure, radiating the power of "Remembrance" that froze time itself.

The two paths of "Destruction" and "Remembrance" had joined forces at this moment, forcibly invading this absolute domain of "Erudition"!

"You all..."

Phaethon raised his head, looking at the figure standing opposite him, bathed in the light of the "Destruction" sun, his gaze resolute—Phainon.

And beside him, Cyrene, surrounded by ice crystals of "Remembrance," her expression complex yet firm.

He fell into a brief silence.

His eternally unchanging expression finally showed another clear ripple.

"Mr Yang!"

On the other side, Stelle and Dan Heng had seized the opportunity to rush to Welt’s side, flanking him protectively. They looked at the slightly disheveled Welt with some concern.

"I’m fine." Welt adjusted his glasses, took a deep breath, calming the churning energy within him.

He looked up, gazing at the scene before him—the blazing sun of "Destruction" representing the end, the ice crystals of "Remembrance" freezing the past, and the data streams of "Erudition" that constructed this very realm.

Three powerful Paths coexisted here simultaneously, eroding and clashing with each other, transforming this space into a bizarre and dazzling battlefield. The hum and crackle of colliding energy were incessant.

This grand scene involuntarily reminded him of when the train crew first arrived in Amphoreus, and that Memokeeper Black Swan had confidently assured them: "Don’t worry, it’s just a simple investigation mission. With all of your strength, there’s absolutely no real danger~"

Welt adjusted his glasses again, inwardly musing: If the train hadn’t changed course to this strange Amphoreus... 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

If they had proceeded as originally planned to those few known destinations with manageable risks, would they be enjoying a relatively safer Trailblazing journey right now?

Of course, the thought was fleeting. As a Nameless, he would never regret the choices he had made.

(Translator Note: This reminds me of the "Myriad Celestia Trailer- exotale scene 8" that feature the what if they didn’t enter Amphoreus.)