An utterly delighted smile rested on Rau Le Creuset's face. Even through his mask, the chilling madness radiating from him was palpable.
He looked forward to what he would see next.
When those who proclaimed themselves righteous, those bound by so-called ideals, were swept into this vortex of hatred called war-the embodiment of humanity's original sin.
Those who died innocent, those souls crying out amid the flames of war-would destruction await them in the end?
Or did those who desperately rejected him and this cruel fate truly have the power to stop this immense vortex of hatred single-handedly, like heroes from myth, and let this world, which should have been cleansed long ago, continue its ugly existence?
This was not merely a battle, but a wager on the meaning of existence.
Since I am the vessel of humanity's desires, since I am the crystallization of this world's sins, my destruction should take the entire world with it.
And you, the hero basking in sunlight, surrounded by admirers.
Rau Le Creuset, Xia Ya-which side will the world ultimately choose? Will it move toward a silent end, or continue its endless cycle?
He yanked the hatch open and strode toward the hangar, toward the gray reaper waiting for him.
"Come-the stage is set, and the actors are in place. The real battle is only just beginning, Xia Ya."
"Use the wreckage as a shield and circle around!"
The order echoed through the bridge, Murrue Ramius's voice unusually shrill with urgency. Her hands gripped the armrests of the captain's chair.
The space surrounding the Mendel colony had been torn apart by crisscrossing beams and ballistic trajectories. The once-silent sector now blazed with the dazzling glare of thruster exhaust and the fleeting fireballs of explosions.
Not much time had passed since Xia Ya