Chapter 166

"In near despair... she chose to cast her gaze on the "Stellaron" and made her first wish."

"So... the "Eternal Freeze" is actually a disaster caused by human wishes..."

Bronya closed her eyes in pain.

No, it shouldn't be like this...

It shouldn't be like this...

Successive Supreme Guardians did not choose such an ending...

Even knowing that there was a cliff ahead, no one chose to compromise with the "Stellaron".

Silvermane Guards, knowing that they would be buried on the front line at any time, went forward without hesitation;

When you vigorously recruited soldiers, the residents of Belobog sent their own young people to the ice field;

But what have you done...

You withdrew the Silvermane Guards from the Underworld, commanded the front-line troops across levels, causing heavy casualties...

You betrayed Belobog, betrayed the people of Belobog, betrayed the you of the past...

The higher she went, the more violent the murmurs of the "Stellaron" became, but Bronya's heart of resistance was doubling and skyrocketing!

By the time the mother and daughter stood on the spacious platform, Bronya's gaze was already firm, and her figure was straight again.

"I have told you all the truth: about the deal with the Stellaron, about the wish I made to it. Between us... there are no more secrets."

"I have been struggling, struggling with how to convey all this to you. The tomorrow in the promise will always come, but if you cannot stay by my side and watch that new world with me..."

"Then I will fall into pain—Bronya, pain that cannot be erased!"

"Bronya, from childhood to adulthood, I have never forced you to obey my will. No matter what, you always have a choice—it was the same in the past, and it is still the same today."

But when she turned to look at Bronya, hoping to get the answer she expected from the latter.

She saw the other party holding a long spear, the muzzle pointing at her chest, her index finger on the trigger.

"Goodbye... mother, and my cowardice!".

"Bang!"

A crisp sound rang out before Cocolia, accompanied by a scorching heat, and a wave of pain radiated from her chest.

Cocolia stared at the smoking muzzle, her eyes wide with shock, her footing unsteady.

It was not as if she hadn't imagined the possibility that Bronya might reject her out of a lack of understanding.

For this, she had prepared many arguments in advance to win Bronya over to her side; at the very worst, she could join forces with the Stellaron to brainwash Bronya and twist her perceptions.

Even a stray dog, if kept by one's side for over a decade, would not be without affection.

Let alone an adopted daughter raised as her own since childhood and groomed as her successor.

But she had not expected this.

After she had confessed all her secrets, Bronya had not only failed to stand by her side but had instead chosen the most pedantic, most desperate path: refusing to join the glorious evolution.

Furthermore, as a daughter, she had fired a gun at her own mother.

This broke her heart.

"Clink—"

The bullet casing fell from her body, emitting a crisp sound.

After Cocolia signed the contract with the Stellaron, she had been accepting its power, gradually being eroded and transformed, becoming immune to ordinary bullets and blades.

At this moment, with Bronya firing before the Stellaron's full influence, how could mere thin bullets cause harm to a body tempered by such trials?

Bronya felt no alarm, nor did she panic at the act of patricide.

"Bang!"

She pulled the trigger again and spoke calmly:

"We are guardians chosen by ordinary people, Mother! Our duty is to 'Preserve' the world built by humanity! We are not gods, nor are we judges!"

"You wish to trample humanity underfoot while playing the role of both judge and god—this, I cannot allow!"

She was a commander of the Silvermane Guards, one of the unyielding banners on the front lines, and a guardian of Belobog.

She had received military training since childhood and embraced the will of "Preservation"; the duty and honor she upheld would not allow her to choose betrayal.

Even when the enemy she faced was the current Supreme Guardian, her own mother.

Had Cocolia not walked this same path?

But she could no longer remember it.

Despair outweighed hope, and the Stellaron's seduction became the final straw.

In Cocolia's mind, the Stellaron's voice rang out at the opportune moment.

"She has refused... do what you must..."

"Bang!"

Struck by gunfire again, Cocolia felt neither anger nor sorrow; instead, she was strangely calm, and an inexplicable emotion flooded her entire consciousness.

The world seemed to become small, Bronya's face blurred, and everything in Belobog gradually grew unfamiliar.

Cocolia's entire psyche was undergoing a change under the influence of the Stellaron.

"I see... so that is your choice... I understand, Bronya."

"It is a pity... a pity that you will not see the beautiful world. You cannot break through the 'shackles' of your thoughts. Do you know? You were meant to be... the 'mother' of the new world."

Answering Cocolia was another gunshot.

Bronya fired the last bullet, her eyes wide, rifle held steady, the cold wind swirling at the tip of her bayonet.

This girl, who had until now Actions Actions Taken pride in her mother, was now unnervingly calm; as a mortal, she was even able to resist the whispers and seduction of the Stellaron.

Without needing to witness more, her figure gradually overlapped with the past Supreme Guardians.

"This city... the fate of Belobog is already sealed, and its future will unfold in our hands."

"And you, along with all of Belobog... shall become the cornerstone of this new world!"

Cocolia's voice rang out again, carrying a faint smile—it was mockery.

"Our ancestors built this city with their own hands, struggling to continue civilization amidst the swaying snow and wind. Even if this world is destined to fall apart, the path to the end should be paved by human hands."

"Not by handing fate over to this seed of disaster!"

Bronya roared, firing the last bullet, holding the rifle out with both hands, the blade tracing a silver line, but it missed. She lunged again, thrusting the bayonet, but Cocolia dodged it.

Stopping her steps, Bronya re-evaluated Cocolia's movements, preparing to strike again, but was knocked over by a powerful gust of air, rolling far away.

Cocolia raised her hand, and the cold air gathered with her movements, whipping up flying snow to form a long spear in her hand.

A knight's spear representing the identity of the Supreme Guardian and the will of "Preservation."

"Without breaking the old, one cannot establish the new!"

The spear tip, coated in frost, thrust toward Bronya.

"... he grotto transforms, a long dream awakened... Break!"

Spear collided with spear, and the sound of metal striking metal rang out.

Cocolia's offensive was forcibly halted, and a nameless rage churned endlessly in her heart—one after another, there was always someone coming to break her plans and obstruct the arrival of the new world.

Just as she looked past the clashing spear tips and realized that the newcomer's attire and face did not belong to Belobog, remembering that they were one of the visitors from beyond the sky, her rage reached its peak.

Bronya thought she was going to die.

Her mother had likely planned for this moment for decades, perhaps even choosing to trade with the "Stellaron" shortly after inheriting the position of Supreme Guardian.

And she had known nothing of it, only choosing to raise the blade of rebellion against her mother driven by duty and responsibility.

Logically speaking, failure was inevitable.

At this moment, two figures appeared out of thin air, just like the various strange phenomena within the "Fragmentum."

A girl with pink hair and pink eyes came before her, helping her up in a flustered manner.

"Who are you..."

"The Astral Express!"

March 7th emphasized, then, without obtaining the other party's consent, immediately applied her unskilled spatial abilities to whisk Bronya away from Cocolia's attack radius.

A violent sense of vertigo followed, and the outlines of everything between heaven and earth melted, colors stewing into a mess.

By the time Bronya regained her senses, she was already in a temporary camp, and the walls of this camp were made of nothing else but one trash can stacked upon another.

That's right, trash cans.

Right before her eyes, "Stelle" showed no hesitation, continuously pulling trash cans made of cold iron from the void to continue the construction work.

Bronya remarked: