Facing Cocolia

"Seriously, we moved this fast and still ran into Gepard?" Zhang Xiu's mouth twitched. He could practically feel the great hand of fate bearing down.

Despite his complaints, he did not hesitate, immediately taking Yaoshi to hide in the pile of clutter behind them.

Their bodies pressed tightly together, and Yaoshi's smooth skin made Zhang Xiu feel awkward.

But the silk draped over her was genuinely long and particularly conspicuous, so Zhang Xiu hurriedly reached out with his left hand, gathered up the exposed fabric, and tucked it into the clutter.

Just then, everyone heard the door open, followed by steady footsteps against the floor.

"G-Gepard-you're here! I thought things were so tense on the front lines that you wouldn't have time to come over, haha..."

"It's all right. The monsters' attacks have eased up lately, so I came back to the city to handle some business. Later... Sis? You look a little nervous."

"Ah, oh! No, I don't! What makes you say that?"

Through a gap in the clutter, Zhang Xiu silently watched the two of them, trying to distract himself.

Yaoshi did not move a muscle, obediently letting him press her down among the clutter, but that only made Zhang Xiu more restless.

Have some self-respect, Zhang Xiu! And you, little head-stop making trouble!

Fortunately, Gepard and Serval's conversation did not last long. During their exchange, Stelle and the others also learned from Gepard that Bronya apparently had been confined to Kliperburg.

Soon, Gepard took the water bottle he had left there and departed. Serval breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on out. It should be safe now."

The moment she emerged, Seele said gravely, "...Bronya's in danger. No, we have to save her."

Zhang Xiu immediately dispelled her concern. "Ahem, Bronya should have gone with Cocolia to the Stellaron by now. The news about her being confined to Kliperburg is probably false."

"Doesn't that mean she's in even more danger? And how do you know that, Zhang Xiu?" March 7th looked at him in bewilderment.

He blinked and launched straight into a lie. "Huh? Didn't I tell you? I can sense the Stellaron's presence..."

"You did, but can you even sense whether there are people around it?" Stelle tilted her head in confusion.

"Hmm... Yes. Anyway, let's get moving. Saving the world can't wait."

"All right, let's go now..." Though Serval's mind was briefly filled with questions, she knew this was not the time to ask them.

They left the workshop and wound their way through the alleys.

But just as Serval was about to lead everyone toward the restricted zone, Zhang Xiu stopped her. "Going this way is far too slow..."

Everyone turned to look at him, and Zhang Xiu snapped the fingers of his right hand. "Honey, I'm leaving this to you~"

"Very well." Yaoshi suddenly spoke, golden light gathering around her right hand in an instant.

The next moment, a sudden transformation occurred.

Branches-golden branches and vines that filled the sky-rose from the ground. At the sight, Serval froze on the spot.

"These branches... Could it be...!" Remembering yesterday's extraordinary scene, she could not help widening her eyes.

"Let's go. I'm not planning to do this one step at a time." Zhang Xiu leaped straight onto an outstretched branch.

Seeing this, Stelle and the others followed his example and climbed onto a branch, which carried them hurtling out of the city as it rapidly grew.

Coming to her senses, Serval also grabbed a vine that resembled a giant serpent and was carried toward Everwinter Hill.

"Whoa, whoa! This is so exciting!" March 7th clung to a protrusion on the branch, crying out nonstop.

Everyone in the Upper District noticed the sudden upheaval. Discussion erupted everywhere, and some even fell to their knees.

As they passed the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone, Yaoshi performed another miracle, raising wooden walls along the Silvermane Guards' front line.

In the original story, Fragmentum Creatures would attack when they reached this place. Gepard could not hold them off alone, and Serval chose to stay behind to help him repel the invasion.

But with this wall, never mind today-Belobog would not have to worry about attacks from Fragmentum Creatures for tens of millions of years to come.

"For seven hundred years, we have kept trying, kept fighting, believing that the light of humanity would guide us toward renewal."

"And the result? Utter defeat...!" Cocolia looked up at the Stellaron suspended high above, her eyes filled with fanaticism.

Bronya, meanwhile, knelt on one knee, using every ounce of her will to resist its temptations and whispers.

"Why, when faced with an irresistible power, is our first instinct to resist rather than listen to what it asks of us?" Cocolia's words continued to guide both Bronya and herself.

"It is the folly and cowardice rooted deep within human nature! Cast them aside! Break your shackles! The Stellaron will lead humanity toward evolution..."

But the next moment, her words froze, and the fanaticism in her eyes was swallowed by shadow.

Vines that blotted out the sky and sun swept toward them with unstoppable might, holding even the Eternal Freeze that had plagued Belobog for years firmly at bay.

"This ends here, witch!"

Seele descended from above, pulled Bronya into her arms, and fixed a hard stare on Cocolia before her.

"Seele...?"

Feeling the warmth of her embrace, Bronya broke free of the Stellaron's bewitchment and looked into those resolute, deep-blue eyes.

"I told you, if anything happened to you, I'd come save you! Even if you were brainwashed, I'd knock you out and bring you back!"

"Blindly relying on the very power that brought disaster? Even we Denizens of Abundance aren't that arrogant." Zhang Xiu stepped onto the metal foundation, then reached back to take Yaoshi's hand and help her down from the branches and vines.

"Exactly! Even a three-year-old knows pies don't just fall from the sky!" March 7th planted her hands on her hips and stood beside Stelle.

"Cocolia... Turn back. Stop clinging to this delusion." Serval looked at her former friend and took a few steps forward.

"Serval...?" Her arrival left Cocolia momentarily dazed, but she soon regained her usual cold severity. "Hmph. You are the ones clinging to delusions."

"Bronya, there is another reason I brought you here... I wanted to witness your choice." Cocolia turned her gaze back to Bronya.

"I have told you the whole truth... Look. Compared to the elusive [Preservation], how real its existence is."

"Choose, my daughter."

The conviction in her eyes had not wavered in the face of Yaoshi's immense power. Her mind must already have been corrupted.

At those words, Bronya stepped out of Seele's embrace and walked straight toward Cocolia, her mother.

"Lady Cocolia... Thank you for raising me. Thank you for leaving me the right to choose."

She knew perfectly well that, had Cocolia wished it, Cocolia would certainly not be the only one standing against Zhang Xiu and the others now.

"But... I'm sorry, Mother. This final time, I cannot stand beside you."

Those words made Cocolia's body tremble slightly, drawing out a string of quivering notes.

"Our ancestors built this city with their own hands, and our people have fought without rest... When the time comes to decide the fate of the world, that choice should belong to people, too."

With that, hatred filled her eyes as her gaze swept toward the Stellaron high above. "Not... to this seed of calamity deciding everyone's future!"

...Silence. Silence rippled through the wind and snow.

Cocolia no longer tried to persuade her, nor did she hesitate. Instead, she drew on the Stellaron's power and slowly rose into the sky.

"Without breaking the old, there can be no building the new."