Chapter 64 Chapter 64: A Millennium of Humanity is but a Grain of Sand
Chapter 64: A Millennium of Humanity is but a Grain of Sand
【Join us... the new world you've dreamed of is right before your eyes... join us......】
On the way up the mountain, a strange voice suddenly and abruptly intruded into Bronya's mind, forcing her to stop and press her hands tightly against her forehead.
Stelle, standing beside her, made the same gesture.
"Hey hey hey... what's wrong with you two? Why are you both suddenly holding your heads?!"
Faced with March 7th's question, Stelle shook her head, trying to force the strange voice out of her mind, and replied, "I feel... like something just suddenly forced its way into my head, saying things about making me join them or something..."
"It's very likely that the Stellaron has truly developed self-awareness over the hundreds of years. It's attempting to bewitch Bronya, the successor to the 'Supreme Guardian,' but it unexpectedly resonated with the Stellaron within Stelle's body." After a moment of contemplation, Dan Heng offered a rather reasonable explanation.
"At a time like this, it's still resorting to brainwashing and other crooked methods?"
It was unclear exactly what had triggered Seele's nerves, causing her to immediately become indignant: "We're so close now, what are we waiting for? Let's go up there right now and give that bewitching witch a good thrashing!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Seele unhesitatingly charged towards the summit first, forcing everyone else to quicken their pace to keep up.
"Huff... no, you guys... slow down!"
The one who probably had it worst was little Elysia, who wasn't even as tall as most others... one step for others was like three for her. Who knew how painful climbing a several-hundred-meter mountain was for a child!
After finally reaching the platform at the summit, they could almost immediately see the massive device at the cliff's edge encapsulating a glowing object—this was likely the object the Architects used seven hundred years ago to try and suppress the Stellaron. But judging from present-day Jarilo-VI, it wasn't hard to see that they had failed quite miserably.
And at this moment, Cocolia stood before that massive device, quietly looking up at the Stellaron sealed within.
"I anticipated that some would fail to understand me, resent me, try to stop me. But I never imagined that person would be you... Bronya."
These words, laden with complex emotions, caused Bronya to pause briefly. But after glancing at her companions beside her, she immediately steeled her resolve and retorted: "Mother... can you truly be willing to believe the promises from the Stellaron? It summoned the blizzards of the Fragmentum, opened the gates to the Fragmentum. It destroyed our civilization—"
"—And the mistake our ancestors made was failing to embrace The Destruction sooner."
Generally speaking, normal people would instinctively resist something that brings disaster. But Cocolia indeed chose its side without hesitation; her decades of unwavering conviction were second to none.
"I don't understand... For hundreds of years, every Guardian in office resisted the Stellaron's call... Were all their convictions wrong, Mother?"
Bronya had personally experienced that feeling of eerie voices constantly echoing in her mind. That prolonged agony was surely enough to warp anyone's beliefs. Yet the fact was... in the past seven hundred years, not a single Guardian truly chose to betray Belobog.
Not even that one known to the world as 'The Fool,' Siliya...
"Haven't you seen it yet, Bronya? There is no right or wrong here. There is only human arrogance... and shortsightedness."
Cocolia finally turned to look at the group behind her and spoke: "Our ancestors—including Alisa Rand—they burned their lives to sustain this civilization, then fell silent, their memories scattered by the blizzards. They spent their entire lives busy composing hymns extolling human courage, yet never found time to gaze intently at the stars..."
"To more magnificent existences among the stars, a millennium is but a grain of sand. The achievements of an insignificant race hold no value worth noting. I will not repeat their mistakes, walking a dead-end path while pitying myself. If persistence is destined to be futile, then choose a new beginning."
If examined from an extremely rational perspective, Cocolia's words were absolutely not wrong—compared to truly magnificent existences, wiping an entire planet from existence is but a trivial gesture. From then on, everything that ever existed on that planet would hold no value whatsoever.
In the vast universe, such things happen from time to time. You might even hear news on your radio about an entire galaxy falling into annihilation... yet such news often sells less than today's report on warship prices rising by a few percentage points.
Such is the real and cold world; no one truly cares about anyone besides themselves.
"But, Qlipoth of The Preservation—isn't He one of the magnificent existences you speak of? Hasn't it been His power that has been protecting Belobog all along?"
"The Preservation? When has The Preservation ever truly looked upon humanity? That is merely the Architects' self-righteous delusion."
Cocolia raised her hand, guiding Bronya's gaze towards the Stellaron at the summit: "Look at the future they promise, Bronya! A world without poverty, cold, or suffering; a world where people no longer have to beg for survival like prisoners; a world we can protect forever."
"For seven hundred years, we kept trying, kept resisting, believing the light of humanity would guide us towards revival—yet the result was stepping deeper into an abyss of despair... Humanity has run out of road, Bronya."
"I've told you all the truth; about the deal with the Stellaron, about the wish I made to it... I want to know your choice, Bronya."
"From childhood till now, I have never forced you to obey my will. No matter what, you always had a choice—it was so in the past, and it remains so now."
"Choose, my daughter."
Even Bronya always had choices provided by Cocolia. But as the 'Supreme Guardian' standing at the forefront for everyone, no one could ever give her more choices.
Most things in this world never truly have a definitive right or wrong.
"Lady Cocolia... thank you for raising me. Thank you for leaving me the power to choose. But... I'm sorry, Mother. This last time... I cannot stand by your side."
"You say humans are always arrogant and shortsighted. That's because you stand too high up. You've never seen those who truly struggle and fight for survival in desperate straits. Even when the future seems utterly hopeless, they never gave up on themselves."
"Our ancestors built this city with their own hands, striving desperately to sustain civilization amidst swaying blizzards. Even if the future is already predetermined, even if this world is destined to fall apart... the path towards that ending should be paved by human hands—"
"—Not by handing over our fate to this calamitous seed that brought disaster!"
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