Star Rail 4.5 Story - Let there be laughter! Aha's true identity revealed!

Patch 4.5 of Honkai: Star Rail is here after the dramatic cliffhanger they left us with in the previous patch, with the Voracity about to awaken and devour the entirety of Planarcadia. Things continue right after that, with Asat Pramad feeding his own body to the Voracity, starting the awakening process.

You might think he's dead for good, but he left his die in Stelle's hands and can talk through it, so it's kind of weird. I guess they wanted to have a new supporting character in the group, and Asat Pramad, being the old navigator of the Astral Express, makes a great addition. Plus, he's hilarious when he talks, so...

The true form of Aha / Nihilux. It changes from the gloomy mangaka to a more regal and imposing form. I like both of them so I hope they allow us to switch when playable...

Sparxie also gets a dedicated CG showing her helping the population of Planarcadia get to safety using the Fool's base

The group runs away to Astropolis, one of the main bases of the IPC, to prepare a plan to defeat the Voracity, but as usual, the IPC is anything but reliable. Different factions want to use this as an excuse to gain power, and Stelle has to work as a mediator to get the final vote to move the needle toward the best solution.

This is where the bombshell happens, and the story ends with another cliffhanger. The leader of the IPC committee knew Nihilux from "a few Amber Eras ago," which means thousands of years, pretty much confirming all the rumors about Nihilux being more than she seems.

In fact, at the very end of the patch, she drops her mask and reveals her identity as Aha, the Aeon of Elation, shifting into a regal and much more unique form. It turns out one of the Gods of this universe is actually a mangaka; that's funny and right in line with what Aha would do.

This puts us in a weird situation because making Nihilux playable (which is pretty much confirmed by leaks) gives us the first Aeon as a playable character. I thought this wouldn't be possible due to the very fact that Aeons defy reason, but if there's someone who can break the rules, it's Aha. Though we're not sure if she really has much power left after suppressing the Voracity.

Astropolis looks pretty good and I guess it's a small glimpse to what an IPC planet may look like even if it's still inspired to Planarcadia.

Of course she got a full blown transformation scene because why not? It's an important element of any magical girl. Wait, she's an Aeon...right.

Now the wait is for the next patch, which, thankfully, will happen earlier. I checked, and this patch is only slightly more than 30 days long, allowing us to continue the storyline much earlier than expected. What will happen now? Are they really going to do the Phantasmoon games again from scratch?