Glory, Turn From Imbibed Poison

Patch: 3.1 · Chapter: Light Slips the Gate, Shadow Greets the Throne · Mission 02 of 9Previous: Strife, Dispel the Accompanying Fears · Next: Grove, Wherefore Are the Wise Silent Wiki: https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Glory,_Turn_From_Imbibed_Poison

Official summary

Mydei found the Kremnoan veteran, Krateros, to discuss the future of Castrum Kremnos. However, Krateros remained resolute, openly expressing his desire for Mydei to take up divine authority, claim kingship, and return home.

Synopsis

This mission is played entirely through the Fate's Ensemble system from Mydei's perspective (subtitled "Mydei: Remnants of Regal Sounds"), running in parallel with the Trailblazer's own thread. It picks up the fallout from the previous mission: Phainon's trial to bear Nikador's Coreflame has failed, so the duty of accepting the god of Strife's divine authority now falls to the sole surviving crown prince of Kremnos — Mydei — who is displaying "an absurd extent of hesitation" about taking it up. The mission is a single sustained character study of Mydei's dread of kingship, culminating in the childhood memory that made him a patricide.

Marmoreal Palace — Mydei and Tribbie

On the far side of the Marmoreal Palace, Mydei sits with Tribbie, who is worried on Phainon's behalf ("Don't worry, De"). Mydei clarifies, tersely, that he is not worried about Phainon — "I know that man can pull through for sure." Tribbie, curious, asks what Mydei himself saw inside Nikador's trial. His answer:

Mydei: ...Something that terrifies me. Isn't that ironic? There shouldn't even be a word for "fear" in the Kremnoan language.

Mydei then names the political machinery he has already deduced: Aglaea knew Phainon might fall, and expected Mydei to take his place — "That was the plan all along, wasn't it?" Tribbie confirms it outright ("Yes. Looks like you know everything"). Mydei doesn't condemn her; he understands the Flame-Chase Journey is "not a game." He lays out the stakes: with Strife fallen and the black tide ever-growing, if Cerces (Reason) and Oronyx (Time) — per Tribbie, "the only two Titans who are still lucid and willing to coexist with humanity" — are also driven mad, the consequences will be catastrophic. He resolves to conquer his fear, but insists he cannot do it alone: "I need the assistance of my fellow Kremnoans."

Tribbie gently corrects him on a crucial point: the demigod trial is ultimately meant for only one individual. She notes that his people have long awaited a new king, and that if he takes the divine role, they will follow him without reservation — "you're the hero of Castrum Kremnos." Mydei's reply exposes the wound the whole mission circles around:

Mydei: I once was. But Lady Tribios... Therein lies my deepest fear.

He leaves to speak with his people. Tribbie, in her plural voice, promises: "Regardless of what happens, we will always be there for you."

The hot baths — the Kremnoan children

Mydei goes looking for a particular Kremnoan at the hot baths, where the billowing steam reminds him of "the furnaces in our homeland." He finds a group of unsupervised children playing and recognizes them as Kremnoans — they hail him excitedly as "the crown prince." The three named children — Demetri, Andriskos, and Marsyas — were all born in Okhema, next to the arena; their parents serve in units like the Hydra Lancers, the Godshield Brigade, and the Holy City Garrison. They were playing hide-and-seek with the veteran Krateros, who was "counting near Verax Leo" and has since gone missing from the game — this is Mydei's lead to find him.

The exchange turns poignant. The children are shunned by Okheman kids the moment their Kremnoan heritage is discovered, but they endure it because "the crown prince will take us home one day." Demetri asks whether retrieving Nikador's Coreflame means they can finally go back to Castrum Kremnos. Mydei presses the paradox: none of them has ever seen Kremnos, the arena, or "that blade in the sky" — everything they know comes from others' tales. "How, then, is a city you have never seen your home?" Demetri's answer is unshakable: "Because this place is definitely not home." Moved but unwilling to promise what he cannot yet give, Mydei issues a fatherly-general's order in the Kremnoan idiom — rigorous training, a healthy diet — as the price of one day being "deemed worthy of returning home."

Finding Krateros — the Council's informants

Following the lead, Mydei finds the veteran Krateros in the middle of tormenting a Verax Leo (the gossip lion-statues) with a deliberately unfinished tall tale about how Chryseus Leo came to be mounted on the wall of Castrum Kremnos — a hunt led by King Gorgo, the founder of Kremnos, near the city of Tretos. Two Council of Elders informants (a Scouting Soldier and a Distressed Soldier of Okhema's Civil Guard) are shadowing Krateros "by order of the Council of Elders," confident that even the Chrysos Heirs must think twice before touching them. Mydei bulls past them with open contempt ("Out of my way, lackeys of the Council").

Krateros is revealed as Mydei's old teacher and a member of the Royal Wing Elites (King's Guards); he repeatedly addresses Mydei as "son of Gorgo." Unbothered by the two Council "hyenas" ("scavengers of rotten meat... They couldn't bite even if they tried"), he invites Mydei to talk somewhere private and lets the informants trail along.

The quiet corner — the kill and the confrontation

Krateros leads Mydei and the two tailing soldiers to a secluded spot. At his signal — "This is a nice spot for a private chat" — Mydei and Krateros kill both Council informants on the spot to secure their privacy. ("Hmph... Some privacy at last.")

The real conversation begins. Krateros has heard the rumors: the Coreflame of the Lance of Fury was restored "though not by your hand," and Mydei is even considering giving up Nikador's divine power. Mydei admits the rumors "are not entirely groundless" and tries to separate the two things — "The divine power is not equivalent to the throne. The path of Strife is also not our people's only way" — but Krateros cuts through the "word games." He lays out the emotional debt: the warriors of the Kremnoan detachment who followed Mydei into exile, and their children, survive only on "the yearning for our former glory days." He invokes Mydei's dead mother, warning that if the people learn their prince is contemplating abdication, it would disgrace her memory — and pointedly reminds Mydei that she died for him because of Eurypon's schemes.

Mydei turns the knife back: "Tell me, who is responsible for my father's death?" Krateros answers without flinching that Eurypon died when the Kremnoan detachment surrounded him — and that Mydei himself drove the spear into his father's chest with his own hands. Mydei calls that "merely the final outcome," arguing that what truly doomed his parents and his people is Strife itself — the quest for glory and the creed "Valorous Death Before Glorious Return."

Krateros rejects the philosophy flatly ("The only thing that could slay a king is a spear... Even an infant knows that much") and delivers his oath and his ultimatum:

Krateros: I swore to your mother that I would guard your crown with my life... I never foresaw that the son of Gorgo himself would be the first to turn his back on the Kremnoan spirit.

He explains that Mydei's mother bore the name Gorgo, the same as the great founder of Kremnos, and upheld it with honor; if Mydei deserts her legacy, Krateros will withhold his loyalty. He tells Mydei to go his own way — he knows no one can deter the prince once his mind is made — but forbids him from ever renouncing Kremnoan tradition: "We may reside in Okhema now, but we remain eternally bound to Strife by blood." Mydei's rebuttal: "Bloodlines no longer hold any significance in this era of destruction." Krateros closes with the mission's title-echoing warning:

Krateros: Never reveal your vulnerabilities to anyone. A lion should never dwell amidst its prey... Especially when it wields power enough to dominate the entire hunting ground.

Flashback — the trial of the infant Mydei

The mission's emotional core is a memory that surfaces after Krateros's words: the day Old King Eurypon condemned his own infant son. Eurypon has decreed that the child must be sacrificed — "descend into the Sea of Souls" — to preserve the soul of Nikador and thereby "save Castrum Kremnos." Mydei's mother, Gorgo, fights it with everything:

Gorgo: This is murder! Do not sully the noble name of Kremnos with the blood of an innocent child!

Eurypon reveals a bleak, iconoclastic conviction that reframes his character. He calls Kremnos's millennia-old "glory" a joke: it "has always been a joke in my eyes... it will not alter the nature of slaughter. Those who revel in it are but murderers." He intends to end the cycle of Kremnoan bloodshed — the ritual by which every king ascends only after killing his own father — "Starting with this child. With these bloodstained hands, I will end it all."

The Council/Ephors enact the Kremnoan principle of "tacit consent": a Magistrate counts down from five while Eurypon dares anyone to object with a spear. No one — not even Krateros — steps forward for Gorgo. At "One," Eurypon declares the decision final: the child will "nourish the Lance of Fury and join the fallen heroes," and he names his son for the last time — "My son... Mydeimos."

Granted one final word "on account of the life we have shared together," Gorgo instead invokes Kremnoan law and challenges Eurypon for the crown in a duel to the death:

Gorgo: With the Blade of Fury above us and the Council bearing witness, I, Gorgo, hereby move to challenge the crown in accordance with the laws of Kremnos! O unworthy king... I demand that you duel me!

Eurypon accepts ("We shall see who the Kremnoan blade strikes down"). Gorgo's final words seal the mission's tragic irony — her plan to save her son by making him king is precisely what would later force his own hand to kill:

Gorgo: The son of Gorgo... will be crowned in blood. If there is no Kremnos without the crown... then I shall seize the crown and smash it to pieces to bring the people to their senses.

The mother roars in anger; the armies stand silent; only the waves of the Sea of Souls echo. The scene closes and control returns to the Trailblazer's POV, with a final line of guidance that reframes the whole mission as a lesson on choice: "When you have a chance to make a choice, make one that you know you won't regret."

Key characters

• Mydei (Mydeimos) — Now the sole candidate to bear Nikador's divinity after Phainon's failed trial. Confesses that his "deepest fear" is becoming king of Kremnos, and that Nikador's trial showed him "something that terrifies me." Reveals openly that he killed his own father, King Eurypon, with a spear, and argues Strife's glory-creed is what doomed his family and people. Rejects that bloodlines still matter "in this era of destruction."
• Tribbie — Confirms Aglaea planned for Mydei to inherit Phainon's role all along. Names Cerces and Oronyx as the only two lucid Titans left. Tells Mydei the demigod trial is meant for a single individual, and pledges the three-in-one's unconditional support.
• Krateros — Kremnoan veteran, member of the Royal Wing Elites and Mydei's old teacher; introduced this mission. Swore to Gorgo to guard Mydei's crown; demands Mydei take up divine authority, claim kingship, and lead the exiles home, threatening to withhold loyalty otherwise. Helps Mydei murder two Council informants for privacy. Was one of those who stood silent during the infant Mydei's condemnation.
• Gorgo (Mydei's mother) — Revealed as bearer of the founder-king's name Gorgo. Fought Eurypon's decision to sacrifice the infant Mydei and challenged him to a duel for the crown under Kremnoan law, vowing "the son of Gorgo will be crowned in blood." Died as a consequence of Eurypon's schemes.
• Old King Eurypon — Mydei's father and the former Kremnoan king. Sought to sacrifice the infant Mydei to preserve Nikador's soul and "save Castrum Kremnos," while paradoxically despising Kremnos's "glory" as mere slaughter and claiming he meant to end the cycle of bloodshed. Later killed by Mydei's own spear.
• Demetri, Andriskos, Marsyas — Kremnoan children born in exile in Okhema, shunned by Okheman kids, who cling to the belief that the crown prince will one day take them "home" to a Kremnos they have never seen.
• Verax Leo — Gossip lion-statue tormented by Krateros's unfinished story about how Chryseus Leo was mounted on the wall.

Lore notes

• Phainon's trial failed — This mission's premise confirms the cliffhanger from 3.0: Phainon's trial to bear Nikador's Coreflame did not succeed, transferring the duty to Mydei. Advances/resolves open thread: outcome of Phainon's trial of divinity (seeded 3.0 m10, carried into 3.1).
• Aglaea's contingency — Tribbie confirms Aglaea foresaw Phainon might fall and always intended Mydei as the backup bearer of Strife's divinity. Connects to the loyalty-test/"Deliverer" scheming threads and Aglaea's willingness to plan for Phainon's failure.
• The demigod trial is singular — Explicitly, the trial "is ultimately meant for only one individual," foreclosing Mydei's hope to conquer his fear with his people's collective help. Reinforces the "true cost a mortal pays for divine authority" thread.
• Mydei's patricide, reframed — The digest's note that "Mydei killed King Eurypon in backstory" is now shown to be filicide-turned-patricide: Eurypon (Mydei's father) first tried to sacrifice the infant Mydei to Nikador's soul, and Mydei later drove the spear into Eurypon's chest. Advances open thread: Mydei's full backstory.
• Gorgo, the name — "Gorgo" is both the founder-king of Castrum Kremnos and the name borne by Mydei's mother; Krateros repeatedly calls Mydei "son of Gorgo." The founder led the hunt that produced the wall-mounted lion Chryseus Leo, near the city of Tretos (new place name).
• "Valorous Death Before Glorious Return" — The core Kremnoan creed named this mission; the tenet of glory-through-slaughter that Mydei blames for his family's ruin, tied to the "imbibed poison" of the title.
• Kremnoan kingship = patricide — Confirmed that every king of Kremnos "inherit[s] the crown only after plucking it from the lifeless body of his father." Eurypon claimed he wished to end this cycle "starting with this child" — yet the cycle completed anyway when Mydei killed him.
• Sea of Souls — Sacrificial victims "descend into the Sea of Souls" to "nourish the Lance of Fury and join the fallen heroes." Likely the same River/Sea of Souls associated with Castorice and Thanatos. [?] Exact relationship between the Kremnoan Sea of Souls and the River of Souls (Castorice/Death) is not spelled out here.
• Kremnoan "tacit consent" — A legal procedure: a Magistrate counts down while dissenters are dared to object with a spear; silence at zero makes a decree binding. Gorgo instead invoked the right to challenge the crown in a duel.
• Titan status check — Per Tribbie, Cerces (Reason) and Oronyx (Time) are "the only two Titans who are still lucid and willing to coexist with humanity," and their potential corruption by the black tide is the strategic reason Mydei feels pressed to accept Strife's divinity. Connects to the remaining-Titan-threats thread.
• black tide — Still described only as an ever-growing existential threat "from beyond," consistent with prior missions; nothing new on its nature. Open thread remains.
• Kremnoan units — New named organizations: Royal Wing Elites (King's Guards) (Krateros's order), Ephors of Kremnos (council/officials), Hydra Lancers, Godshield Brigade, and the Holy City Garrison and Civil Guard of Okhema where exile Kremnoans now serve.
• Council of Elders vs. Chrysos Heirs — The Council openly surveils Mydei via informants "even the Chrysos Heirs have to think twice before" touching; Mydei and Krateros kill them anyway. Advances the Council-vs-Heirs political fault line.
• Title motif — "Glory, Turn From Imbibed Poison" / "the poison one cannot bear to drink to the dregs": Kremnoan glory framed as a poisoned wine, the inheritance Mydei is being pressured to swallow.

Sources

• Glory, Turn From Imbibed Poison — HSR Wiki

Hindsight (full arc)

• Reread with the reveal: Eurypon's wish to "end the cycle of Kremnoan bloodshed... starting with this child" and Mydei's dread of Kremnos's thousand-year loop gain a second floor from the cyclical-history reveal (3.2): today's demigods become the next cycle's Titans, so Kremnos's patricidal loop mirrors Amphoreus's own 33.5-million-cycle recurrence (3.4).
• Reread with the reveal: Tribbie's "the demigod trial is meant for only one individual" is the same "only one witnesses the miracle" coda later laid bare (m06/m09) and reframed in 3.4 as the endless, self-consuming Worldbearing duty.
• Foreshadowing: Mydei's refusal to ascend until his people are "resolved" sets up his solo departure (m07–m08) and his sacrifice in the second Flame-Chase (3.5 Before Their Deaths).
• [?] resolved: Whether the Kremnoan Sea of Souls and Castorice's River of Souls are the same is left as distinct but kindred death-waters — the Sea of Souls nourishes the Lance of Fury; the River of Souls / Styxia is Death's domain (3.2).