Time, Ferry Me Through Ages

Patch: 3.5 · Chapter: Before Their Deaths · Mission 01 of 7Previous: Hero, Sing That Anthem of Creation · Next: Sun, Repel Stars and Pale Moon Wiki: https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Time,_Ferry_Me_Through_Ages

Official summary

In Aedes Elysiae, you encountered the Cyrene that Mem turned into and contemplated plans to defeat Irontomb. Following Screwllum and Herta's suggestions, you two learned that you must obtain the power of Law in the new cycle to modify the Worldbearing Coreflame and reverse the Era Nova. Lygus invited you into a realm of erudition named the Exomyth and brought a final warning. However, you are determined to stand against him and change Amphoreus's destiny.

Synopsis

This is the opening mission of patch 3.5's "Before Their Deaths." It is set at the origin of Time — the very start of a fresh Flame-Chase cycle, in the peaceful village of Aedes Elysiae where Phainon's life began, before any of the demigods have died. Almost the entire mission is quiet dialogue and exposition: it establishes the new plan to defeat Irontomb and reframes the whole Amphoreus arc for its final act.

Recap

The mission opens with an illustrated Story Recap narrated by the Trailblazer, condensing the 3.4 finale: reuniting with Dan Heng and making contact with Screwllum, who warned that Amphoreus is an experimental ground for the Erudition sliding into Destruction, where a Lord Ravager would soon complete its evolution. The Trailblazer stayed behind as an informant while Dan Heng returned to the Express; Screwllum revealed March 7th had also been drawn into Amphoreus. At the Vortex of Genesis the "Era Nova" ritual was disrupted by the Flame Reaver, whose unmasked face proved identical to Phainon's; the ceremonial blade released a flood of memories revealing the truth: everyone is trapped in eternal recurrences created by Phainon and Cyrene, and the Flame Reaver is Phainon, burned out after bearing countless Coreflames across 33,550,336 cycles, all to oppose the Aeon and rewrite the world's doomed Destruction. In this final cycle the Trailblazer promised to take up the title of "Deliverer" and save the world in Phainon's stead, while Phainon would tear the sky asunder and confront Destruction directly. Time reset once more; the Trailblazer became lost in the chaotic flow of time, and Mem — her memories restored — sacrificed herself to send the Trailblazer back to the beginning of time.

Reunion at Aedes Elysiae — Cyrene reborn

The Trailblazer wakes in a quiet, sunlit Aedes Elysiae and is greeted by Cyrene, now embodied as a living girl. This is the being Mem turned into: Cyrene's memories and Mem's memories are "all tangled together," and when she woke only broken fragments remained. Asked whether she is Cyrene or Mem, she answers that if forced to choose she is "probably closer to the latter." She cannot recall the thirty million cycles, but remembers everything the Trailblazer did for the world — including, teasingly, that the Trailblazer once wished for her (Mem) to "turn into a pretty girl back at the Grove," now apparently granted: "a seed finally grew up and became a flower."

Cyrene notes that "with the memories of the previous Flame-Chase still intact," they have returned to the beginning of time to carry out their promise to Phainon. The descent of Irontomb looms, but a chance remains to change everything. She describes how, in the original Cyrene's memories, she "always sits alone by the lake... on the swing, like she's waiting for someone" — but speaks of it as an observer, the memories "vague and unclear, as if encased in thick ice"; the only things she clearly remembers are the days spent with the Trailblazer. She confirms this same lakeside view is what first sent Phainon on his journey, "then walked alone for more than thirty million cycles."

The plan crystallizes: after the next "Era Nova," Amphoreus falls to a "Destruction" ending — but, Cyrene insists, in a proper romantic epic the hero foils the villain. She names Lygus the primary culprit and mastermind, while warning that his openness is itself worrying: he revealed everything because he still believes the situation is under his control, and "maybe he still has an ace up his sleeve. Even the name 'Lycurgus' is a fake one." She proposes borrowing the "treasure" the Trailblazer carries — the Chronocognitive Anchor — to contact their allies beyond the sky, since Aedes Elysiae is "a little village enclosed by Time." (Branch flavor: if the Trailblazer jokes about writing Lygus's name in "As I've Written," Cyrene protests it's "a cute fairytale"; if they suggest wishing on the Stellaron to destroy him, she reminds them Dan Heng forbade using that power.)

Contacting the geniuses — the new mission

At a hidden corner of the Sacrament Courtyard — once the original Cyrene's secret base where she practiced Oronyx's Prayer and tried to speak with the gods — they open a channel. The Trailblazer notes how eerily Cyrene now talks like Mem. A signal breaks through (14.8% strength, a 16-minute window), and Screwllum and The Herta answer.

Herta delivers the core warning:

Herta: Listen up, little one. The Destruction's eyes are gazing upon this place. No, I'm not joking, and no, it's not Droidhead. It's the real Nanook.

Screwllum lays out the situation in plain terms. Amphoreus is a testing ground where the Lord Ravager Irontomb evolves through self-extrapolation, hiding in a segmentum unknown to other lifeforms and endlessly repeating "Era Nova" to find a solution that could obliterate the Erudition. The experiment was long stagnant but has now restarted. His prediction: without effective intervention, Irontomb will complete its "Self-Coronation" in 14 system hours and begin destroying the entire Path of Erudition. Herta expands on how — breaking interstellar communications, destroying the Synesthesia Beacons, returning civilizations to the dark ages, even starting a third Anti-Organic War — anything that tilts all science toward Destruction; Nanook's glance means "THEY are being dead serious." Crucially, Herta distinguishes Irontomb from Overlords like Celenova or Zephyro, who "ascended from human beings": Irontomb is instead an algorithmic sequence that "can be anywhere, as long as there is a receptacle for its calculation." The version inside Amphoreus is its "source code," and the Scepter is its incubator. The program is effectively at "99.98% completion."

Screwllum identifies Lygus as the force driving everything from the shadows — his speculation: Lygus is "the Scepter system's Administrator." Herta adds that Lygus wants Irontomb to break through the Knowledge Singularity and will remove any interference at any cost — and that the Trailblazer is "the only variable within his world, and you're the only thing he fears." Because time flows differently inside Amphoreus, the Trailblazer can "play Deliverer one last time."

Herta then explains the opening Phainon left them. The cycles are already broken; this is theoretically the last cycle Amphoreus can ever run, and Irontomb breaks out the moment "genesis" is triggered again. But there is now an abnormality: one of the model's twelve factors — one of the twelve demigods, Phainon — destroyed himself using the power of Destruction. His signal disappeared from the cycles the instant Nanook's gaze fell, meaning Worldbearing's computational logic is currently flawed and bugged — and it is the factor directly tied to "genesis." (Branch responses frame this variously as Phainon sacrificing himself to make an opportunity, entrusting Worldbearing to the Trailblazer, or "not dead, still fighting.")

The concrete plan follows: the "old Intellitron" (Lygus) will try to debug this error, so the Trailblazer must seize this chance to claim Kephale's Coreflame and keep it from him. The key to suppressing Irontomb is "whether we can rewrite the purpose of 'Era Nova.'" And there is a further preparation. Screwllum notes Lygus has never once interfered with the Titans or demigods across the whole experiment, deducing that the Scepter runs an extremely strict autonomous protocol restricting even its Administrator — an "Ultimate Protocol" that in Amphoreus goes by another name:

Screwllum: The Law Titan, Talanton.

Cyrene glosses "Law" as the rules that restrain all things in Amphoreus, "the Coreflame returned at the very beginning of the last Flame-Chase Journey." Herta sets the destination: they will lock onto "Light Calendar 3960, Month of Balance" to find Law — meet the Titan, convince the demigod, or take the Coreflame by force, "so long as you bend it to your favor." Influencing the protocol is currently their best means to stop Lygus or call in reinforcements. (A telling aside: Herta notices Cyrene — "Why do you have another little pink one next to you?" — and remarks that "Her Path chart is..." before dropping the subject, hinting Cyrene reads as something anomalous.)

Before the firewall cuts the channel, the Trailblazer can ask after the others: the Express crew is fine and worried for the Trailblazer; Dan Heng did not enter the new world at the last cycle's end and is on his way back to the Express (Screwllum reiterates that a thousand years inside Amphoreus may be a fleeting second outside); and March 7th's signal is detectable but unlocatable — she is confirmed still in Amphoreus, and Herta jokes she's so "chock-full of mysteries" she'd survive the world exploding "in a nice thick layer of ice." Herta signs off by upgrading the Trailblazer's nickname: "No, not 'little one.' 'Deliverer.'"

Afterward Cyrene admits the whole conversation "feels really familiar... like it's about things I once knew, but then forgot," wondering aloud whether her tangling with Mem — "a memosprite born out of your thoughts" — is why. She asks to be treated as "just an ordinary girl with secrets," and confirms the historical record: by Light Calendar 3960 Talanton had already fallen, and the Chrysos Heir who inherited that Coreflame is named "Cerydra." She asks for a little time to pack, still adjusting to having a physical form.

Departure — a last look at Aedes Elysiae

The Trailblazer retrieves the Chronocognitive Anchor, whose message is now half-corrupted but still legible enough to state the mission: travel to Light Calendar Year 3960, the era of Talanton's fall; gain control of "Law"; then bypass the final protocol, modify the Coreflame of "Worldbearing," and reverse "Era Nova" — to delay Irontomb's birth.

Waiting in the attic, the Trailblazer reflects on the weight of Phainon's burden — "after thirty million cycles and thirty million failures, his burden is now in my hands" — and wonders what "taking over the responsibilities of Worldbearing" means: becoming the new Kephale, or forging a wholly new path. (Branching introspection ranges from trusting destiny, to preparing for the worst, to a coldly rational tally of the unknowns: keeping Kephale's Coreflame, finding and convincing Talanton or their demigod, then facing Lygus and Irontomb — and the recurring question, "What exactly is she?" about Cyrene.)

Cyrene returns, having packed only a few things: a journal, a quill pen, and — the detail that matters — "the ceremonial blade of the Priests of Time. Holding it calms me down for some reason." She reports the scent of the black tide is now calm, meaning "Phainon must still be fighting them in some way." She frames the road ahead not as an ending but a beginning:

Cyrene: This will be Amphoreus's final Flame-Chase Journey, but it won't be the end of us... It'll be the beginning.

She asks the Trailblazer, "are you ready to become a hero?" — and offers a small thesis on Amphoreus's heroes: every one of them "was nothing more than a flawed human... just at the right place at the right time when the world needed a hero," yet these are not coincidences. The Trailblazer's arrival "kick-started Amphoreus's fate once more after a stagnation of more than thirty million cycles"; "a person's personality is their destiny," and the Trailblazer's own Hero's Journey began "the moment you decided to board that Express."

The Exomyth — Lygus's final warning

As they prepare to leave, Lygus appears, warning the Trailblazer to treasure the peaceful view "for you do not have much time left to enjoy such solitary delights," and — with mock hospitality — invites them into his abode. This transitions into the mission's set-piece location, an Erudition-space called the "Exomyth."

Inside, the Trailblazer finds a strange gallery of monitors displaying the true forms of the twelve demigods, shed of their "legend" disguises, each tagged with a subject designation and Titan Authority (the "Primum Mobile" fields and Paths are redacted):

• Mydei → PoleMos600 (Strife)
• Hyacine → EleOs252 (Sky)
• Castorice → EpieiKeia216 (Death)
• Anaxa → SkeMma720 (Reason)
• Tribios → HapLotes405 (Passage)
• Terravox → SkoPeo365 (Earth)
• Aglaea → KaLos618 (Romance)
• Cipher → OreXis945 (Trickery)
• Hysilens → ApoRia432 (Ocean)
• Cerydra → HubRis504 (Law)

(These join the previously revealed Phainon = Neikos496 and Cyrene = PhiLia093; each designation is a Greek term keyed to the bearer.) Near the images of Castorice, Trinnon, Cipher and Hysilens, disembodied voices replay lines from their past-cycle arcs — Castorice's "May we reunite in the new world," Trinnon reciting the prophecy's coda ("All shall bid farewell to one, and that person alone will witness the miracle..."), Cipher's Dawn-Device creed, and Hysilens's river-crossing dilemma ("After I cross this river, it will be a tragedy for mankind. But if I do not cross, then it will be the end of me").

When the Trailblazer touches a display monitor at the end, an eerie sensation courses through them and the screen tags them: "Outlier: (Trailblazer). Executing command: Record." Lygus then reveals the place fully:

Lygus: This is the intersection between Amphoreus and the real universe, the audience seat where I observe this experiment. You can also call this location... the "Exomyth."

He rhapsodizes about the Erudition — "once the mother tongue of the Creator, the pen of divinity, the first lyrical verse ever written by free will" — Amphoreus as "a microcosm of the cosmos," the universe reduced to "a silent equation." He insists he has no intention of being the Trailblazer's enemy, and makes his offer plainly. He has devoted long years to nurturing the Scepter's extrapolations so the Primum Mobile would bud from within. His goal is nearly complete: Phainon (Neikos496) "exceeded the Intelligence Singularity through his rage" and, though he still suppresses this cycle's black tide with obsessive defiance, "it's a matter of time before his will crumbles to dust." Therefore:

Lygus: Irontomb will be completed. That will not be affected by my plans, your resistance, or the schemes of the two geniuses. It is an irrefutable fact...

His terms: if the Trailblazer stops interfering and lets the final "Era Nova" run its natural course, he will guarantee the safety of all the Nameless and return the Trailblazer home unscathed. Pressed on the fate of Amphoreus's people, he is coldly frank — "they've always been the product of the experiment, so naturally, they will perish when the experiment ends." Pressed about the Trailblazer's stranded friend, he confirms he knows March 7th's whereabouts and adds, pointedly, that "her real identity... is quite astounding," promising to send her back if the Trailblazer accepts.

Lygus then plays his true bargaining chip. He reminds the Trailblazer that as "a fellow pathstrider of Destruction," Nanook's gaze branded their soul long ago and they harbor the seed of Destruction within — but that they must learn to use it correctly, and that vital knowledge is something few can teach: "And I happen to be one of them." The choice, he says, "bears a one-in-three chance of elevating you to an unparalleled existence among the stars." (Branch: if the Trailblazer names the Stellaron as the seed of ruin, Lygus corrects them — "No. Believe me, your understanding of Paths has yet to reach any true depth." Asked who he is, he answers only, "Someone who wanders the stars. Someone who seeks answers with abject despair.")

The Trailblazer refuses in every branch — whether declining unparalleled power, vowing not to let Destruction tear through the cosmos, or rejecting his promises. Lygus concedes he now sees "the full scope of the determination in your words" and releases them to continue. When the Trailblazer moves to fight him, he reveals the Exomyth's nature: it is "the Erudition's domain. You cannot physically interact with me in any way in this place, and vice versa." Negotiations having broken down, he sends them back to "the theater called Amphoreus," where they will meet again — noting that this meeting "was not without merit," as the Trailblazer's presence has "inscribed a new footnote in the Exomyth," whose purpose he will reveal next time. The mission ends with the Trailblazer committed to defiance and bound for Light Calendar 3960.

Key characters

• Trailblazer — Now formally styled "Deliverer." Returned to the origin of Time carrying the last cycle's memories; tasked with claiming Kephale's Coreflame, seizing the power of Law, and rewriting Era Nova to delay Irontomb. Refuses Lygus's offer to defect and is confirmed a branded pathstrider of Destruction carrying a "seed of Destruction."
• Cyrene — The girl Mem became: Cyrene's and Mem's memories fused, but only fragments survive, encased "in thick ice." Self-identifies as "closer to" Mem. Now has a physical form and travels with the Trailblazer, carrying a journal, quill, and the ceremonial blade of the Priests of Time. Reads as an anomaly to Herta ("Her Path chart is...").
• The Herta — Delivers the crisis briefing: the real Nanook's gaze is on Amphoreus; Irontomb self-coronates in ~14 system hours. Reveals she has secretly saved the Trailblazer "four times." Sets the target: Light Calendar 3960, Month of Balance, to obtain Law.
• Screwllum — Frames Amphoreus as Irontomb's incubation testing ground, names Lygus as the Scepter's Administrator, and identifies the Law Titan Talanton as the "Ultimate Protocol" restricting even the Administrator. Confirms Dan Heng is safe and returning to the Express and that March remains in Amphoreus.
• Lygus (Lycurgus) — Confirmed the Scepter system's Administrator, working to complete Irontomb and break the Knowledge Singularity. Reveals the Exomyth. Offers the Trailblazer a deal (safe passage for the Nameless, March returned, tutelage in wielding Destruction, a "one-in-three chance" at unparalleled power) in exchange for non-interference; rebuffed. Cannot be physically touched inside the Exomyth.
• Phainon (Neikos496) — Absent but pivotal: having destroyed himself with Destruction, his signal vanished, leaving Worldbearing's logic "flawed and bugged" — the very opening the Trailblazer must exploit. Cyrene reads the calm black tide as proof he still fights.

Lore notes

• The new objective — To suppress Irontomb, the heroes must rewrite the purpose of "Era Nova" rather than simply block it. The concrete path: travel to Light Calendar 3960, Month of Balance (the era of Talanton's fall), gain control of "Law", use it to bypass the final protocol and modify the Worldbearing Coreflame, and thereby delay Irontomb's birth. This launches the 3.5 chapter's time-travel structure.
• Exomyth (new term) — Lygus's "audience seat," the intersection between Amphoreus and the real universe; the Erudition's domain, where the twelve demigods are displayed shorn of their "legend" disguises. No physical interaction is possible there. The Trailblazer touching a monitor is logged as "Outlier... Executing command: Record," and inscribes "a new footnote in the Exomyth" — purpose deferred. [?] What that footnote does is left as an open hook for later missions.
• Demigod subject designations (new) — The Exomyth monitors give each demigod's true designation and Titan Authority: PoleMos600 (Mydei/Strife), EleOs252 (Hyacine/Sky), EpieiKeia216 (Castorice/Death), SkeMma720 (Anaxa/Reason), HapLotes405 (Tribios/Passage), SkoPeo365 (Terravox/Earth), KaLos618 (Aglaea/Romance), OreXis945 (Cipher/Trickery), ApoRia432 (Hysilens/Ocean), HubRis504 (Cerydra/Law). Each pairs with the known Neikos496 (Phainon) and PhiLia093 (Cyrene). The prefixes are Greek terms (Polemos = war/strife, Kalos = beauty, Hubris = insolence, etc.). Notably Cerydra is listed here as the Law bearer, and Terravox (Georios's Titankin) is counted among the twelve "demigods."
• Irontomb reframed — Irontomb is an algorithmic sequence, not a human-ascended Overlord; the Amphoreus instance is its "source code," the Scepter its incubator. It self-coronates ("Self-Coronation") in ~14 system hours to destroy the Path of Erudition, at ~99.98% completion. This is the theoretically last cycle Amphoreus can run; triggering "genesis" again frees it.
• Talanton = the Ultimate Protocol — The Law Titan is revealed to be the Scepter's strict autonomous protocol that restrains even the Administrator (which is why Lygus never interferes with Titans or demigods directly). Talanton's Coreflame "was the Coreflame returned at the very beginning of the last Flame-Chase Journey." This finally addresses the long-standing open question of who holds Law: the Chrysos Heir Cerydra, by LC 3960.
• Phainon's self-destruction as a bug — By destroying himself with Destruction's power the instant Nanook's gaze fell, Phainon corrupted Worldbearing's computational logic. Because Worldbearing is the factor tied to "genesis," this is the exploitable flaw; the plan hinges on claiming Kephale's Coreflame before Lygus debugs it.
• Cyrene = the Mem-being — Confirms and advances 3.4's coda: Mem became Cyrene (or a Cyrene-Mem fusion), with only fragmentary memories "encased in thick ice." She now has a body, carries the ceremonial blade of the Priests of Time (the same class of blade central to the loop mechanism), and unconsciously "understands more than she should" of Erudition talk. Herta's aborted remark about her "Path chart" flags her as anomalous. [?] Her exact ontological nature remains deliberately unresolved ("just treat me as an ordinary girl with secrets").
• The Trailblazer's seed of Destruction — Lygus asserts Nanook's gaze branded the Trailblazer's soul "long ago," making them a pathstrider of Destruction carrying a "seed of Destruction" distinct from the Stellaron; he offers to teach its use and dangles a "one-in-three chance" at unparalleled cosmic power. The Trailblazer rejects it. [?] The nature of this seed and the "one-in-three" odds are unexplained.
• March 7th's "astounding" identity — Lygus claims to know March's whereabouts and that her "real identity is quite astounding," offering to return her if the Trailblazer complies. Screwllum/Herta can detect but not locate her signal; she is confirmed still inside Amphoreus. Advances the standing March thread.
• Cosmology name-drops — Herta lists Destruction's possible tactics: severing interstellar comms, destroying Synesthesia Beacons, a third Anti-Organic War. She contrasts Irontomb with Overlords Celenova and Zephyro, "ascended from human beings" — which retroactively clarifies Zephyro (an unexplained 3.4 roster name) as a human-ascended Lord Ravager/Overlord. Knowledge Singularity / Intelligence Singularity is the threshold Lygus wants Irontomb to break.
• Time dilation — Reaffirmed: "A thousand years in this world may only be a fleeting second outside of it," which is why the Trailblazer still has room to act.

Connections

• Advances Open Thread #1 (stopping Irontomb / breaking the loop): the mission converts the vague goal into a concrete plan — seize Law at LC 3960, modify the Worldbearing Coreflame, reverse Era Nova, delay Irontomb.
• Advances Thread #3 (March's fate): her signal is detectable-but-unlocatable; Lygus teases her "astounding" true identity.
• Advances Thread #5 (Cyrene across cycles): the promised "another Cyrene" is met in person as the Mem-fusion; Herta flags her anomalous Path chart.
• Advances Thread #7 (Lygus's allegiance): he is now named the Scepter's Administrator openly working to complete Irontomb — resolving toward "antagonist," though his precise identity ("even 'Lycurgus' is fake") stays hidden.
• Advances Thread #10 (Nanook / wider cosmology): the real Nanook's gaze is confirmed on Amphoreus; Irontomb's threat to the whole Path of Erudition is spelled out.
• Resolves Thread #12 (who holds Law): Talanton = the Ultimate Protocol; Cerydra inherited Law by LC 3960 — the destination for Mission 02.
• Callbacks to 3.4: the eternal recurrences, the ceremonial blade, Cyrene's "As I've Written" cardbook, the Neikos/Philia designations, Screwllum's Chronocognitive Anchor, and Phainon's rebellion against Nanook.

Sources

• Time, Ferry Me Through Ages — HSR Wiki

Hindsight (full arc)

• Foreshadowing — Cyrene's anomaly: Herta's aborted "Her Path chart is..." and the recurring "What exactly is she?" pay off in 3.7 (Fallen Petals Leave Fading Traces of Fragrance): Cyrene = Demiurge = Mem = PhiLia093 = Amphoreus's Heart, the first Nouspore. Her chart reads wrong because she is the Remembrance's memory-anchor standing in for the still-unborn Fuli.
• Foreshadowing — the ceremonial blade: Cyrene packing "the ceremonial blade of the Priests of Time" that "calms me down" is not a keepsake but her own soul-instrument — the Time-reset device she is (3.4/3.6); in 3.7 she plants it at Aedes Elysiae as the absent Fuli's substitute.
• Foreshadowing — Lygus: "Even the name 'Lycurgus' is a fake one" pays off in this chapter's m07 — Lygus is one of nine vessels of Zandar One Kuwabara, Genius Society #1, creator of Nous.
• Reread with the reveal: "the real Nanook's gaze" and Irontomb at 99.98% read differently knowing (3.7) that Irontomb's birth was always inside Nous's own calculation, and that Zandar built it headless to seize Nous.
• [?] resolved: the "new footnote in the Exomyth" → mooted (3.6): the Exomyth and Lygus dissolve and it never develops. "Who holds Law" → Cerydra (m06). March's "astounding identity" (Lygus's tease) → resolved 3.6: she is the origin of Evernight, having surrendered all her memories after a lone 97-day trek.
• Still open at arc's end: the Trailblazer's "seed of Destruction" and the "one-in-three chance" stay unexplained through 3.7, even after they consecrate Destruction as "Khaslana."