"Miss Kisara, you said just now that the world is destined for destruction. What do you mean?"
While Satomi Rentarō was still reeling from this bombshell, the Seitenshi, who had been frightened by Tendō Kisara just moments before and had the most delicate personality, took a step forward.
When it came to the safety of the world, the determination in the young girl's eyes was no less than that of Tendō Kikunojō.
Though her abilities were still nascent, in terms of resolve, the girl before them indeed possessed the qualities of a king.
"Literally what it means."
Tendō Kisara glanced at the girl in surprise, not expecting her to remain so calm after witnessing two deaths in person.
Now that her revenge was complete, she didn't care much about the future of this world, so she said casually, "If things continue on their original path, this world will inevitably be destroyed."
Hearing this, the Seitenshi's face turned pale. But she quickly caught the subtext in Kisara's words and asked, "You mean, if we make a change now, change the path, we might be able to alter the destined destruction?"
"...That I don't know."
Tendō Kisara shook her head and glanced at Su Mo. "I've only seen the future that Lord Su Mo foresaw. Now that he has made such a huge change, the original path has long been altered."
"As for whether we can escape the fate of world destruction, a mere mortal like me naturally wouldn't know. However, in my opinion, it's not very optimistic."
By now, her understanding of the apocalypse was quite profound. If humanity was destined to be destroyed by humanity, then the Cursed Children were just one of the tools they used to destroy themselves.
Even if Su Mo had taken away all the Cursed Children, as long as humanity itself didn't change, the outcome of destruction would at most be delayed, never erased.
Hearing her say this, both Rentarō and the Seitenshi's expressions became solemn. Although she was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, she was the only one with a close connection to the god, a status similar to Kanae's as a priestess.
Her words could often be taken as a reflection of the god's attitude.
At this moment, Satomi Rentarō was racking his brain, trying to figure out what the god meant, whether he wanted this world to survive or be destroyed.
If it was the former, the disaster ten years ago shouldn't have happened; if it was the latter, then why did he appear before the destruction?
While he was desperately trying to understand the god's intentions, hoping to secure the best future for humanity by clarifying his will, the Seitenshi took the opposite approach.
She gave up on thinking, on speculating, and walked directly to a spot three meters in front of Su Mo. Then, she lifted the hem of her skirt and knelt in an elegant and pious manner.
Her moon-white dress outlined her slender waist and the graceful curve below it. Her swan-like neck was perfectly revealed as she bowed, fully expressing her humility and reverence.
"O, supreme and almighty God!"
After taking a deep breath, the girl spoke with an utmost sincere tone. "If you have decided to destroy this world, please grant me a chance for salvation. If you have decided to save this world, please also grant me a chance for salvation."
Analyze Su Mo's intentions? Deduce a god's thoughts? Speculate on the divine will?
There was no need for that. Since he had been confirmed as a god, there was very little that humans could do.
Playing tricks, probing intentions, hiding desires—these were all foolish actions. How could a god not see through such petty games?
Perhaps in terms of small cleverness, the Seitenshi was slow, but in terms of great wisdom, she was not lacking.
Whatever a god thought, whatever he decided, was not something humans could fathom or change. In that case, as a human, all she could do was pray.
If the god was willing to give his blessing, then she would beg for it. If he was not, she would still beg for it. This was the survival wisdom unique to the weak.
"Imitating Joan of Arc, are we?" Su Mo raised an eyebrow, recognizing the figure the Seitenshi was emulating.
"My reverence for you, and my love for my country, are just like that of the holy maiden," the Seitenshi said frankly.
It was a little strange, but she, the leader of this area, was indeed better at acting as a weaker party. Neither Tendō Kikunojō nor Satomi Rentarō could handle an inquiry from a god; only she had this ability.
If this world had some kind of Valhalla, this girl would indeed be qualified to be a member.
"No need for flattery. I've only just arrived in this world, and I don't need any faith." Su Mo shook his head, then looked at the girl with interest. "The destruction of this world was an apocalypse that humanity was destined to reach. However, since you beg so sincerely, I can give you, or rather, this world, a chance."
Hearing this, the Seitenshi's eyes lit up. She immediately raised her head, her face beaming. "Thank you, Lord God!"
She had indeed wanted to fight for a chance, but she hadn't expected Su Mo to be so generous, so easy to talk to.
"Thank you, Lord Su Mo!" Satomi Rentarō also knelt down.
Only now did he understand the Seitenshi's wisdom—whether the god wanted to destroy the world or save it, what other choice did humanity have but to beg for salvation?
Hearing Su Mo's words, the members of the chat group were suddenly a little confused.
March 7th: "Eh? Did Lord Su Mo agree to save the world that easily?"
March 7th: "Although this Seitenshi girl seems nice, there are so many bad people in this world. You can't just let them off, right?"
Previously, March 7th had felt some regret about the world's destruction, since there were a few good people.
But now that she heard about saving it, she felt it was a bit too lenient on the bad people. She remembered the discrimination and persecution of the Cursed Children; many of those people could hardly be called human.
Rin Tohsaka: "Just watch! Lord Su Mo might be kind-hearted, but he doesn't save just anyone!"
Shiroyasha: "That's right! Speaking of which, didn't Su Mo say he wanted to experiment with cosmologies? This should be related to that, right?"
After a brief discussion, everyone focused their attention on the live broadcast.
And in the Black Bullet world, Su Mo continued. "Don't be happy too soon. I said I was just giving you a chance. Whether you can seize this chance and reverse the fate of destruction is up to you."
"If not for your mercy, Lord God, we wouldn't even have this chance. So we must still thank you for your generosity and blessing!" the Seitenshi said with a serious face. To find a glimmer of hope in the face of certain destruction was already a good outcome.
"Very good."
Seeing that the girl's thoughts and body were in harmony, Su Mo nodded in satisfaction. No wonder gods liked to use priestesses as their spokespersons; an obedient one was indeed nice.
Then, he turned to the protagonist of the original story, Satomi Rentarō. "To deal with the existing predicament, I will grant you the qualification to save the world... but before that, there's a small matter to attend to."
"A small matter?"
At this moment, Su Mo raised his hand slightly. An invisible airflow condensed in his palm, and a translucent, azure mini-planet appeared in it.
"Since it is a divine gift, there must be sufficient proof. Otherwise, before my gift can take effect, you will fight over the interpretation of the divine word and bring about the apocalypse even faster."
His words made the Seitenshi freeze for a moment, then blush beet red. She hadn't thought of that possibility, nor could she refute it.
After all, Su Mo's personal descent hadn't been accompanied by any visions of heaven. Even if he pointed out the path to salvation, only she would believe it unconditionally.
Other human powers, even if they received all the information, would suspect it was a self-directed play by the Tokyo Area, and might even come up with their own interpretations to engage in internal strife.
Even the most optimistic Seitenshi had to admit that with humanity's current political climate, it was impossible to build a Tower of Babel without divisions.
If Su Mo didn't provide indisputable proof, the various factions would, like the schisms of Protestantism, wage wars of faith over the existence of the god himself, leading to new problems.
It was a grace freely given by a god, yet it had to be delivered in a way that humans could accept to avoid chaos.
The Seitenshi was ashamed of this, because the group she was asking him to save was this very kind of disunited one.
Su Mo had no opinion on this. In his eyes, it was just a common social phenomenon. If everyone in the world were like saints, there would be no need for gods.
"Since you no longer have the help of the Cursed Children, let's lower the difficulty of the trial a little," he declared. With that, he turned his finger slightly, stirring the winds and clouds of the world.
The Seitenshi, amidst her shame, widened her eyes, wanting to see what kind of proof Su Mo intended to give.
But all she saw were seven ripples spreading across the azure planet model in his palm, then quickly disappearing.
Su Mo immediately withdrew his hand.
Wait, Lord God, what did you do?
Just as the Seitenshi couldn't hold back her curiosity and was about to ask, a guard's trembling voice came from outside the door.
"R-reporting, my lords! An urgent communication has come in from the weather satellite! The intelligence department requests that it be given to the Seitenshi for preview!"
Hearing this, the Seitenshi looked up slightly. Before she could give permission, Tendō Kisara had already very consciously gone to open the door and receive the report.
The guard let out a huge sigh of relief and immediately left. Kisara looked at the report in her hand and read it aloud.
"Urgent communication: One and a half minutes ago, extreme and abnormal thunderstorms appeared simultaneously in seven regions globally. According to military satellite data, all seven regions are major activity areas for Zodiac Stage V Gastrea."
"The energy level released by the thunderstorms even surpassed that of a hydrogen bomb by a hundred times. According to satellite life activity detection, the seven Zodiac Gastrea are suspected to have been vaporized by the thunderstorms in the same instant? Along with their entire Gastrea legions, with no survivors?!"
As she read on, Kisara's tone became filled with shock. According to the timeline, in just that one instant, Su Mo had killed seven Stage V Gastrea with thunderstorms simultaneously?
"What?! Seven Zodiacs?!"
"This is the power of a god?!"
Compared to the mentally prepared Tendō Kisara, the Seitenshi and Satomi Rentarō were completely stunned by this achievement.
As monsters that had once caused the apocalypse and destroyed the modern human world, there were only eleven Stage V Gastrea in total.
After two had died, only nine remained. And now, Su Mo had destroyed seven of them with a casual flick of his wrist. The disaster they were supposed to face had been discounted by more than half.
Although she had piously prayed for the god's salvation and grace before, it was only at this moment that the Seitenshi realized just how vast and magnificent a god's blessing was.
Monsters that humanity could only defeat two of with all its might, yet seven of them died at Su Mo's hand, easier than stepping on ants.
Looking back, the Seitenshi realized just how astonishing the small ripples on that tiny planet less than ten centimeters in size were when synchronized with the Earth.
They were thunderstorms that could almost cover an entire continent.
Stage V Gastrea had molecular-level regeneration. To destroy them with pure energy, the energy level of these thunderstorms combined was enough to destroy the existing human civilization a thousand times over.
Su Mo had said he was just making some small preparations. But in those small preparations, he had already demonstrated the power to destroy the world.
With this proof, his divine might would never be doubted. No faction would dare to welcome such a targeted thunderstorm.
An energy scale sufficient to destroy the world, which had eliminated most of the apocalyptic threat.
The so-called combination of grace and might, there was no better example.