"...Are you saying that this endless blizzard, the constantly encroaching Fragmentum, all the shadows that have loomed over Belobog for seven hundred years—are all caused by something called a 'Stellaron'?"
Dunn leaned on his shield, asking with disbelief.
"And your goal is to deal with this Stellaron, resolve all these disasters, and incidentally achieve your purpose of leaving this planet?"
Gepard picked up where Dunn left off, adding with a serious expression.
"Mhmm."
Felicity nodded cheerfully.
Gepard fell into deep thought. The terms Felicity mentioned were too distant for him; frankly, he didn't understand any of it.
But Dunn nodded with great solemnity, appearing as though he "completely understood." Though no one could see his expression beneath that bucket helmet, given his seniority, it made sense he might know more than Gepard.
Unbeknownst to them, Dunn hadn't understood Felicity's words at all either—he simply felt such incomprehensible, lofty language perfectly matched his image of her.
After a moment's contemplation, he finally shook his head.
"Apologies, madam. I cannot grant your request. After all, I am merely a soldier. I must seek the Supreme Guardian's instructions before making any decisions."
He sighed with some regret, but then his tone shifted abruptly into a deliberately theatrical delivery,
"However—ah, if someone were to slip into the Fragmentum unnoticed, there would be nothing I could do about it."
Gepard was utterly shocked.
"Then I'll be on my way~"
Felicity blinked, surprised by how smoothly things had turned out.
She had assumed all Silvermane Guards were as rigid as Bronya.
"Ahaha, I didn't hear anything."
Dunn laughed heartily, turning away and giving Gepard's shoulder a firm pat,
"Brother Gepard, it seems our patrol duty isn't over yet. Let's check the area over there."
"But..."
Gepard grew anxious immediately. He glanced toward where Felicity had been, only to find the young woman had already vanished from sight.
"Senior Dunn, doesn't this count as defying military orders?"
Gepard appeared deeply troubled. He had long considered himself a shield protecting Belobog and had never disobeyed any command.
"Gepard, let me ask you—what exactly are we protecting?"
Dunn fell silent for a moment, his gaze drifting into the distance as if confirming whether Felicity had truly gone. After this brief silence, his eyes returned to Gepard as he asked calmly.
"The people of Belobog."
Gepard answered without hesitation.
"I have long sworn the Preservation Oath to Qlipoth. I shall defend Belobog and her people at any cost—including my life, of course."
"Then have you ever heard any rumors of that lady harming a single civilian?"
Dunn continued questioning.
"..."
Gepard remained silent and shook his head.
"Do you think we alone can stop her?"
"...No."
"Exactly, Gepard. That lady has never acted against Belobog, and has even saved many Silvermane Guards. Now she's heading toward the long-desolate Everwinter Hill, yet we're supposed to take up arms against our benefactor based on fabricated charges like 'conspiring to overthrow the Architects and sabotage Belobog'?"
Dunn sighed, gazing thoughtfully toward Belobog.
"Do you... remember when Serval was dismissed from her position? They used the same charge."
"..."
Gepard offered no response.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Felicity tread upon the parched snow, feeling the biting wind sweep across her face. Her platinum blonde hair danced in the blizzard yet remained completely untouched by snowdust.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings—broken metal fragments and scattered stones littered the grayish stone slabs haphazardly, while dilapidated staircases twisted their way toward the sky.
Countless humanoid figures frozen into ice sculptures stood there in various poses, most preserving their living appearances like insects trapped in amber. Without human interference, they would likely remain standing here forever.
How magnificent.
Felicity marveled inwardly. She ascended leisurely, sensing the rich life energy mingled within the frigid wind.
Perhaps her approach had drawn the Stellaron's attention again, as the celestial object that should have remained hidden was now brazenly absorbing life energy once more.
It was fine, let it feed.
She soon reached the summit—a platform built upon the mountain peak, made exceptionally thick by accumulated snow. A peculiar structure, though fractured, floated mid-air before Felicity's eyes.
Within it hovered a golden luminous body shining like a fixed star, constantly pulsating and transforming with the flow of life energy, resembling a beating heart.
This is... the Stellaron.
A pleased smile spread across Felicity's face.
[Abomination... of Abundance.]
A voice abruptly echoed in Felicity's mind, a murmuring whisper so discordant it seemed unlike any human sound.
But Felicity recognized it was cursing her, and her pretty face immediately fell.
As the saying goes, "she who gives milk is mother." She had already fed her life energy to the Stellaron, so why was this thing still insulting her?
"..."
Felicity didn't act rashly. After briefly sensing the Stellaron's power and confirming it still couldn't kill her in its current state, she prepared to continue waiting quietly for it to absorb energy.
But the Stellaron proved more impatient than she anticipated. The luminous sphere's glow intensified dramatically as life energy began draining away frantically.
[The birth of the universe is an error; civilization is but a quietly burgeoning cancer amidst the vast sea of stars.]
The platform beneath her feet suddenly began to tremble. Snow and dust buried in the ground were abruptly flung into the air as a massive steel arm burst forth from beneath the snow.
[All, for the Aeon of Destruction!]
The enormous steel arm braced against the ground, performing a motion akin to a pull-up, hoisting an entire steel body up from beneath the earth.
A colossal robot, towering higher than mountains, stood behind the Stellaron. At roughly the position of its eyes, a flash of red light gleamed.
[Burn, fuse, annihilate.]
The Stellaron's voice grew increasingly fervent; it seemed the absorbed life energy had granted it immense confidence.
It was the cancer of civilization personally cast into the cosmos by the Aeon of Destruction Nanook, augmented by the life energy of an entire planet, and even aided by a 'Creation Engine' from Preservation.
Even against an Emanator, it could now hold its own!
The Stellaron thought with such pride.