The Phantasmoon Games make a dramatic comeback in Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.6, framed as a grand theatrical performance staged beneath a golden tree in Arcadia. Nihilux, who is revealed to be Aha, the Aeon of Elation, gathers a cast of eight actors to bait and slay Oroboros, the awakened Aeon of Voracity. The sequence plays out as an in-game cinematic where the “games” are less a competition and more a carefully staged magic trick.
Quick answer: Nihilux restarts the Phantasmoon Games to trap and destroy the awakened Aeon Oroboros, gathering eight supplicant actors and naming Caelus as Aha’s proxy under an Elation mask.
What the Phantasmoon Games are
The Phantasmoon Games began as an old rite. A thousand Amber Eras in the past, Aha and the gods pursued an ancient leviathan. Once the hunt ended, eight performers were assembled under the golden tree and duped into binding dreadful beings by playing a string of ridiculous games. The current version brings back that structure, now aimed at a particular quarry.
The referee for this round is Evanescia, who formally opens and closes the proceedings. Nihilux acts as narrator and host, introducing the legend before setting the stage for the actual hunt. The whole thing is presented as theatre, with cards, masks, and a carnival montage tying the cast together.
The target: slaying Oroboros the Voracity
This performance sets out to lure the awakened Aeon Oroboros—the Voracity—and kill it. Nihilux says an Aeon itself will take the stage and vie for the victor’s crown, making this contest far more perilous than a usual clash between factions. The husk has to be defeated before the curtain comes down.
The eight actors and why they joined
Eight supplicants step forward beneath the golden tree. The cast includes Caelus (the Trailblazer), Sparkle, Sunday, Silver Wolf, Blade, Pearl, and Ashveil, with Evanescia serving as referee rather than participant. Each character states a motive before the games begin.
| Actor | Stated motive |
|---|---|
| Sparkle | Refuses to sit out, since doing so would insult Aha |
| Sunday | Hopes to make people laugh in the waking world |
| Silver Wolf | Carries out Elio’s order by defeating the opponent in one shot, so Aha won’t beat him |
| Blade | Takes part to honor a promise to play one round alongside Silver Wolf |
| Pearl | Says Preservation and Imagenesis now share a unified theme |
| Ashveil | Puts everything on the line to put the Aeon’s game right |
Caelus takes his stand
When Evanescia turns to the Trailblazer, the player picks a dialogue choice that sets Caelus on the path of the hunt. He commits with the line, “It’s time to hunt an Aeon… We shall defeat the Voracity and win the Phantasmoon Games!” The available dialogue options during the sequence include “I will protect this world,” “It’s time for the hunt,” “This is going to be a sleepless night,” and “Stand with me, and become heroes!”
With Caelus locked in, Evanescia formally proclaims the curtain open. The performance will not end until the husk is defeated, giving the games a clear win condition.
Caelus becomes Aha’s proxy
Nihilux turns to the audience, brings his hands together, and sets off the cutscene’s so-called end-of-the-century grand magic trick. A carnival-themed animation fills the stage, recasting the eight actors as masks and cards from a theater. The sequence bears the date Arcadian Calendar Year 1999 and presents the whole hunt as a performance.
A red-and-white dressed jester figure descends, summons confetti, and places an Elation mask onto Caelus. She names him Aha’s proxy and declares herself his magician’s assistant for the grand performance. This is the moment the Trailblazer is formally tied to the Aeon of Elation for the arc.
The cutscene sits within Version 4.6, “Dance With the Beast Before Moonrise,” which continues the Astropolis story and heads deeper into the Life Sciences Institute. Pearl, one of the eight actors shown here, arrives in the same update as a playable 5-star Ice character on the Path of Elation.
