"Embrace me... become us... cleanse this world..."
"Merge with me and wage an endless vengeance against the enemies who mock us!"
Power of Preservation, come out!
The great undertaking of the Jackal?
It no longer mattered.
Holding the strange lifeform that had begun transmitting power to her, Cleo could feel every inch of her skin filling with Imaginary energy.
There was no need for the power of a Path to intervene. That strange lifeform seemed to have become some sort of converter.
Her body began to brim with immense Imaginary energy. Before this, she had sought to open this door countless times.
Yet for more than twenty years, she had received no response.
Without the power of a Path, she possessed an inherent weakness when facing stronger opponents.
Thus, throughout her life, she had remained cautiously hidden, never daring to test the monsters whose life levels surpassed her own.
According to the family records, the City Builders drew their power from an Aeon of "Preservation." She had seen all of this in ancient texts passed down from some unknown era, and countless times, she had imagined one day obtaining that power just like her ancestors.
But...
Reality seemed to have played a joke on her.
Once, that power had been very far from her.
But now...
In the depths of desperate adversity, two powers had chosen her at once.
One was the power that had cursed her life.
The other was the power that had cursed Belobog.
However...
None of that mattered anymore. She stepped out of the Technical Development Department's corridor and looked once more upon the towering Kliperburg, as well as the Silvermane Guards standing in formation with their Garrison Officer.
She looked at this descendant of the Landau family, an eerie smile creeping onto her lips. Vast quantities of strange knowledge flooded into her mind, and her speech began to turn incoherent and deranged...
"Landau? When did you arrive? Ah, yes. I was waiting for you too."
"Cleo Jackal, you are under arrest for seriously endangering public security, illegally infiltrating an important government department, illegally organizing and arming violent groups, and other crimes. You have the right to remain silent, but every word you say will become..."
"Arrest? How tiresome! Why bother with such trifles? I am right here. You may come and kill me if you wish."
"Your crimes must be made public."
"...Boring! Rigid! Laughable... So this pitiful thing was everything Cleo had once longed for day and night..."
Like a madwoman, yet also like a sage who had seen through the world, a twisted and sickly smile suddenly appeared on her face.
"If that is so, then destroy it! Why should something this boring be allowed to remain!"
"Stellaron's Power! Come out!!"
In an instant, Imaginary energy surged wildly. The entire space filled with terrifying cold, and silver-white armor resembling scales continually spread across the woman's body. Accompanied by her deranged, frenzied laughter, the cancer of all worlds that had been bound for over seven hundred years was finally completely unleashed.
"'Beasts' of the Abyss, I am here. Gather before me!"
As the source from which the Abyss had been born, the Stellaron naturally possessed the ability to command Void creatures. When Cleo's voice rang out, her frenzied laughter and roars seemed to echo across the entire sky. Her voice contained joy, pain, rage, humiliation, resentment... hundreds and thousands of emotions, like the combined emotions of countless lives.
They were cursing, cheering, snarling, roaring, and praising greatness...
The predecessors of the Void creatures had been living beings that once existed in the material world. They too had once been sentient lifeforms.
Even after turning into Void creatures and losing that sentience, every existence in this universe retained an "archive" of "memories." Calling it lingering obsession would not be wrong.
After these countless emotions gathered within the Stellaron, it selected from them the "sounds" that its chosen one wished to hear.
Praise, curses, cries, shrieks...
It was as if everything in the world, as if countless lives, were calling for a single savior—the executor who would wash away all the sins of this world.
Our Lord! O incomparably noble and mighty Lord of the Heavens!
Bring grave destruction upon this sin-filled world!
"Great Ruin! Great Destruction! Great End!... I shall bring down upon you the hammer called Utter Annihilation!"
Cheers and hymns rang across Belobog's skies, while curses and furious roars filled the air. Countless twisted, chaotic voices swept through every corner of this fortress at the end of the world.
The chaotic murmurs were like the whispers of the dead. Countless Belobogians were drawn in by them, gradually losing their sanity and slowly walking toward the nearest Abyss rift.
"Icy Judgment—!"
After summoning all the Void creatures, Cleo, who had already become one with the Stellaron and transformed into the Illusionary Annihilator, lowered her eyes. Countless icy crystals appeared behind her and instantly transformed into innumerable speeding arrows that shot toward the Silvermane Guards nearby.
"This ends here—!"
The silver-blue instrument case began to radiate the power of Preservation. When it landed upon the ground, deep-blue Power of Preservation materialized into a shield large enough to block the overwhelming ice crystals.
"Will of Preservation—!"
The ice crystals fell upon the Power of Preservation like torrential rain. Decades of uninterrupted, grueling training finally bore fruit at this moment. His tough, powerful muscles, bones, and sinews allowed him to remain standing firm even as he resisted the overwhelming force of the incoming ice.
As though inspired by his resolute stance, the Silvermane Guards behind him also roared in unison. They desperately pulled their triggers, firing continuously at Cleo, who floated in midair.
"The Stellaron has granted us permission for revenge!"
Raising her arm high, Cleo coldly looked down at the nearly hundred Silvermane Guards. Her gaze was icy, as though she regarded them as dead objects. The surrounding Imaginary energy gathered in her hand. She possessed no particularly refined Imaginary energy control, but the sheer, incalculable quantity made such control unnecessary. She merely had to gather it and release it...
"This is the Echo of World Destruction—!"
"I'll face you to the bitter end!!"
Watching the Imaginary Sphere being formed, Gepard suddenly let out a low roar. He immediately abandoned his defense in place and charged toward the Illusionary Annihilator like a high-speed train running at full power.
"Help me one more time, Sis."
The "instrument case" his sister had given him when he joined the Silvermane Guards in his youth had been his "strongest support" through countless hardships. As long as it was by his side, it felt as though his sister—no, as though his entire family—stood behind him, supporting him.
So...
He could not retreat even a single step.
Behind him lay his family, Belobog, and...
The lights of countless homes!
"In the name of Landau! We shall never fall—!"
Power of Preservation!!
Come out!!
P.S. The book goes premium tomorrow, brothers. Please give the first subscription a try. I'm not asking for much at this point—just 400 first subscriptions so I can keep writing. If it goes over 400, I'll add more chapters. Five chapters guaranteed, ten at most.
Main Text
The Inferior Stone of the City Builders Was Worthless. (Please subscribe, 1/10)
By the time they arrived in Belobog, the entire city had already fallen into chaos.
Large crowds on the streets were packed together without any order or logic.
The moment they arrived, everyone seemed to hear countless chaotic murmurs in their ears. Cocolia looked over the entire city, slowly closed her eyes, and then spoke with certainty.
"It's the Stellaron."
"The Stellaron has been unsealed."
In the past, the Land Clan had been able to hear the Stellaron's voice because of First Land Alisa. But now... when everyone could hear the Stellaron's voice, it was obvious that the Stellaron had broken free of its restraints and been completely released from the containment device that had imprisoned it for seven or eight hundred years.
"As expected, it's one link after another."
Sparkle's entire scheme had not truly had any precise purpose. She had merely seen through the hidden undercurrents among Belobog's upper ranks, laid everything out in the open, and given them a small push, causing every conflict to erupt completely.
"The Stellaron is near Kliperburg."
Because she had once been chosen by the Stellaron, Cocolia still retained some ability to sense it. She looked toward the west side of Kliperburg, where the Technical Development Department was located.
"I'll find a way to wake the citizens and evacuate them."
Among the crowd, the Intelligence Officer volunteered to take on the most troublesome task. After hesitating for a moment, March 7th raised her hand as well.
"I'll come too. I'd like to go with you and deal with the bad guys, but... there are some elderly people at the Grand Goethe Hotel that I'm worried about."
"Bronya, stay behind."
Cocolia glanced at the situation on the streets, then calmly began assigning tasks to the people she could still influence.
"If the Stellaron erupts in Belobog, the Abyss will rapidly expand. Gather as many Silvermane Guards as possible, then protect the citizens and lead them somewhere safe."
"Lynx, you go with Bronya too. If there are any wounded, provide emergency treatment first."
"I understand, Mother."
"I'll help, Supreme Guardian."
"Serval..."
"Don't order me around."
"Come with me."
When Cocolia said that, Serval's expression clearly froze for an instant. Mr. Emiya received another response from the Emotion Value System. These two blonde older sisters seemed to have very low defenses indeed...
"You know what's good for you."
After muttering something indistinctly, Serval's face visibly gained more fighting spirit. Cocolia smiled. Now that she had lost the Stellaron, looking back on the sins she had committed, she knew they were unforgivable. But beyond those heavy sins, there seemed to be something else that had been left behind long ago...
Thinking about it now, it was truly a little regrettable. There had clearly once been so many people by her side: Serval, Nagamitsu, and so many others who had shared her ideals, worked alongside her, and taken action with her. Yet she had betrayed all of it, been seduced by the Stellaron, and abandoned her stance... Perhaps this was her final dance, but there were still people willing to head to the battlefield with her. At this moment, she no longer had any regrets.
"...Let's go."
With a calm smile of relief on her face, Cocolia took firm steps toward the final battlefield.
"Stelle, which side do you want to go to?"
Shirou Emiya turned his gaze toward Little Grey Hair. According to the original script, Little Grey Hair should have obtained that lance during her confrontation with Cocolia, thereby receiving Belobog's lingering Will of Preservation and gaining a glance from Klippers.
But now, that script could not be replicated. The only person who could decide the new route was Stelle herself.
Hearing Shirou Emiya's question, Little Grey Hair seemed to understand something. After pondering briefly, she chose to follow her heart without hesitation.
"I'll go with March. Like her, I'm worried about the elderly people and children there. And... I want to go see the Lower City too."
"Good."
He reached out and placed his hand on Little Grey Hair's head, speaking softly.
"When you have a chance to make a choice, never let yourself regret it."
Little Grey Hair's eyes widened slightly. The words Kafka had spoken to her when she had first awakened surfaced in her mind. Her lips parted as though she wanted to ask whether Shirou Emiya's words held some deeper meaning, but he seemed to see through her and smiled gently.
"You don't need to concern yourself with any deeper meaning. We simply hope to see you grow. That is all."
He raised his hand again and constructed Alisa's lance, infusing a portion of the Supreme Guardian's spirit into it. If Little Grey Hair could truly stir the Will of Preservation, the lance and the spirits of the past Guardians would be enough to guide her toward that possible crossroads.
"Go."
He guided Little Grey Hair toward March 7th and Pela. As they watched that group of young people head into the crowd, faint smiles appeared on Cocolia, Serval, and Shirou Emiya's faces. Perhaps they were somewhat in sync. They suddenly looked at each other, then laughed again without prior agreement. Along with that laughter, Shirou Emiya developed a little more fondness for the two women beside him.
After that, the three of them said nothing more. They simply moved calmly against the flow of people, quickly heading toward the direction of the true battlefield.
"Meaningless struggle."
After knocking Gepard away for the fourteenth time when he tried to approach her, the Illusionary Annihilator's voice carried a hint of mockery.
"The Inferior Stone of the City Builders is not worth mentioning."
"Those mighty beings have never cared about the fate of insignificant mortals like us."
"I prayed to Him countless times, yet all I received was cold reality."
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