After establishing the new covenant, Su Mo placed his hand on the Seitenshi's head, granting her the authority to enter heaven. Then, he opened a gate of light to paradise before him and led both Tendō Kisara and the Seitenshi through it.
Watching the god depart, Satomi Rentarō naturally bowed in farewell.
It wasn't until Su Mo's figure had completely vanished and Rentarō had fully recovered from his earlier excitement and shock that he finally realized a problem.
"Wait! There were only eleven Stage V Gastrea Zodiacs in total. Two were already dead, and Lord Su Mo just killed seven. Shouldn't there only be two left?"
It was a simple math problem that even a child wouldn't get wrong. Logically, a god shouldn't make such a mistake.
"But why did Lord Su Mo's covenant say we have to defeat three Zodiacs?"
Was there some kind of misunderstanding?
Suppressing his doubts and with no one to confirm with, Rentarō had to set the matter aside for the time being. Compared to this unverifiable question, quickly defeating the last two remaining Zodiac Gastrea was more important.
With this thought, he looked up at the sky.
With all of humanity's current strength, against two Zodiacs...
"We will win!" he clenched his fist, his eyes full of anticipation.
---||---
Meanwhile, in the paradise above the sky.
"Lord Su Mo!"
"Lord God!"
"Daddy!"
"Big Brother!"
When Su Mo's group arrived in the center of paradise, the millions of lolis erupted. They surged towards him like a tide, their forms of address varied and diverse. The only thing they had in common was their shining eyes, filled with infinite gratitude and admiration.
For the Cursed Children who had lived in hell, being accepted by Su Mo was not just a divine grace, but an affirmation of their existence. It turned out they weren't cursed children, but children blessed by a god!
"Move aside, move aside! I saw Lord Su Mo first, make some room for me!" The rabbit-like Aihara Enju squeezed her way through the crowd with all her might.
Paradise had nourished their bodies and spirits. Just half an hour ago, Enju had been sickly and world-weary. But now, she was gradually returning to her lively nature, developing in the direction of her original story self.
"So this is Lord God... so warm!" Not far away, Senju Kayo didn't join the competition, simply watching Su Mo from a distance with quiet and contented eyes.
"Waaaah~ I want to go too, but it's too crowded!" The slightly socially anxious Fuse Midori clutched her hat, covering her cat ears, and looked at Enju with envy, but didn't dare to step forward.
Tina, on the other hand, secretly activated her schein feld, spying on the god with her mechanical drone eyes.
While the various Cursed Children were showing off their skills, Tendō Kisara and the Seitenshi keenly noticed that nine of the little girls were completely different.
The difference wasn't that they didn't join the competition. On the contrary, they had rushed forward at the first moment and secured front-row seats. It was just that, out of reverence for the god, they, like many other children, didn't dare to step forward and ask for a hug like Enju did.
Their difference was that there was a half-meter empty space around them. The other Cursed Children subconsciously didn't dare to get close to them, as if there were an invisible hierarchical gap between them.
"These children are..." Tendō Kisara watched the nine little girls, feeling a little strange.
The Seitenshi beside her, after experiencing the same confusion, stiffened as if struck by lightning, her face turning even paler.
Noticing her reaction, Kisara grew curious. "You know them?"
"...I've seen their files. I'll never forget what they look like." The Seitenshi nodded with difficulty. "These children... should be the original forms of the nine dead Stage V Zodiac Gastrea."
Her words stunned everyone in the chat group. Even Tendō Kisara hadn't considered this possibility. "You mean, the Zodiac Gastrea that destroyed the world were originally just little girls?" she demanded, her eyes wide.
"Mm." The Seitenshi nodded in shame. "These are top-secret documents that only the highest leadership can access, but there's no point in hiding it here. According to the files, all eleven Zodiacs were originally caused by innocent children losing control."
Madoka Kaname: "?"
March 7th: "?"
Rin Tohsaka: "Actually, when Lord Su Mo said earlier that Aihara Enju might lose control and become a Zodiac Gastrea, I already guessed this was a possibility."
Rin Tohsaka: "I just didn't expect it to be true."
Some in the chat group were surprised, while others had already guessed the truth.
Shiroyasha: "After all, even the anti-Varanium Gastrea were specially cultivated. It's already a given that the Gastrea virus was created by humans themselves."
Shiroyasha: "I just didn't expect they would use these little girls for human experimentation."
In the Little Garden, even the well-versed Shiroyasha clenched her fists. The world was full of villains, but few were this evil.
Tendō Kisara had only just thought of this herself. No wonder all the Cursed Children were girls; it was likely related to the original prototypes.
"So humanity created its own apocalypse with its own hands, these children are the victims, yet the higher-ups have been hiding this fact and directing the hatred towards the children themselves?" Tendō Kisara suddenly felt sick.
Her sympathy for the Cursed Children had been based on pity for innocent children. Only now did she realize that they were not just innocent, but victims.
And yet, the human leadership had directed the hatred towards them, while the ones who had conducted the human experiments got off scot-free. This kind of blame-shifting was disgusting.
"S-sorry! I know my apology is useless, and I have no face to see these children. But that's the reality. I wanted to change things after I learned the truth from the files, but I never succeeded," the Seitenshi said, her eyes filled with despair.
"That's why I've been advocating for improving the treatment of the Cursed Children and changing the public's perception. But all these measures were rejected by Kiku... by the officials. Not only were they unwilling to release the truth, they wouldn't even provide basic compensation."
A kind-hearted person who knew such dark information would naturally be tormented by their conscience day and night. This was why she cared so much for the Cursed Children. Unfortunately, she was just a figurehead leader, unable to enforce her will on many matters.
If I had been more useful, these children wouldn't have suffered so much!
Seeing the Seitenshi unable to lift her head, Kisara shook her head and sighed. "I won't say you have no responsibility in this, nor will I say it has nothing to do with you. After all, you are the leader of the Tokyo Area. Even if it's only in name, you must inherit everything, including the darkness accumulated in the past."
Bearing the filth of the nation was the responsibility of a leader; there was no arguing that.
"However, I also know your situation. That old bastard would never have allowed you to issue such a decree. Or rather, no politician would have agreed with you."
If the truth were revealed, the leadership would lose all credibility, the Cursed Children might no longer be submissive, and the entire society's stability would be shaken.
Forget Tendō Kikunojō; even someone like Satomi Rentarō, who was close to the Cured Children, wouldn't have allowed her decree to pass.
This was the cold reality. Without Su Mo's intervention, this world was destined for destruction.
"...But, knowing all this, you still wanted to ask for Lord Su Mo's grace. Do you think the current human society is still worth saving?" Tendō Kisara asked curiously.
Even she was disgusted by the people of this world. How could the Seitenshi, who was even more sensitive and kind-hearted than her, still have faith in humanity?
"Are you thinking this way because of your duty, or do you truly have confidence in this world's human society?" Kisara's eyes were filled with curiosity.
To this question, the Seitenshi gave a very serious answer. "Humanity has indeed made huge and unforgivable mistakes and caused irreparable consequences. But I believe that humanity will learn from this lesson, understand the inhumanity and uncontrollable risks of human experimentation, and completely ban such things from now on. With this profound lesson, I believe that human society will not have the same problem again!"
Her words sounded a little naive, but there was some logic to them. After destroying the Earth once with human experiments, anyone with a brain should know not to do it again, right?
"I see. You believe in humanity's ability to learn, that they can learn from the previous apocalypse," Kisara nodded, understanding her thoughts.
"What, you don't think so, Miss Kisara?" the Seitenshi asked, confused. No matter what, after suffering such a huge loss, they had to have learned their lesson, right?
"That's hard to say..." Remembering what Su Mo had mentioned earlier, that there were still humans conducting experiments to cultivate anti-Varanium Gastrea, Kisara shrugged. "If things followed their original path, your idea would be a fantasy. But now that a miracle has descended, I don't know what will happen."
Even the most evil villains would probably tone it down a bit after knowing that a god existed in this world, right?
With this thought, she looked at Su Mo beside her. "Probably only Lord Su Mo knows how the future will develop."
"Lord God?" Hearing this, the Seitenshi subconsciously looked at Su Mo. After a moment of hesitation, she asked timidly, "Lord Su Mo, what are your thoughts?"
At the same time, in the chat group, someone was also curious about Su Mo's previous actions.
Shiroyasha: "That's right! Su Mo, what are your plans for this world?"
Shiroyasha: "To save it, or to destroy it?"