[The grand army of New Belobog sets out, its fleet sailing into the depths of the Star Ocean. You have received Ron's decree, leading the expedition as its Grand Marshal, and have also accepted the gratitude of a god.]
[Ron has returned from death and understands the great effort you have expended... He has bestowed upon you a generous gift as thanks. You have once again taken a great leap forward along the Path of [Salvation], covering a vast distance and landing just before Ron himself. You are now just shy of touching godhood, having become the Emanator closest to the Aeon.]
[Ron has opened all Authorities on his Path to you and has also granted you access to the Path of [Destruction], which he has not yet fully mastered, allowing you to utilize its power freely.]
[He has cleared all obstacles on the Path of [Destruction] for you, while also placing his hope in you to become His true proxy, able to act freely on His behalf across this sea of stars...]
[He has given you his complete approval. From this moment on, you shall truly advance through the sea of stars, exercising His will.]
[You have obtained a new Blessing: "Chosen of Salvation (Red)"]
[Chosen of Salvation: The heavens and earth were dim and chaotic. Only the Savior could break open the bleak frontier and question the gods, asking when the sun would rise upon the world's darkness, and asking where the path forward lay, how to walk toward the light...
The god lit a lantern to illuminate the path for the Savior, but the road was fraught with thorns, arduous and difficult. Only a hero, clearing a path through the brambles as a leader, could guide the Saviors forward to grasp the light of salvation at the end of the road.
And you are the god's choice.
You have received Ron's blessing. When exercising Ron's will or carrying out actions related to [Salvation], the Path of [Salvation] will open itself to you to an extreme degree, and you will receive its full support.
The magnitude and quality of Imaginary Energy you can control will be drastically increased, with the boost ranging from 500% to 1000%.
When your current actions are completely aligned with the "Good" alignment, all your base attributes will be doubled.
"The Resisters carved the present from the past, but the Saviors will carve the future from the present." — [Salvation] Ron]
Reading the text on the light screen, Herta paused for a moment, then a playful and intrigued expression crept onto her face.
"He really is a player... Pretty sharp, Ron."
Ron's actions confirmed Herta's suspicions... If he weren't a player, able to step outside the simulation and observe everything that happened from a third-person perspective, then even an Aeon would likely not have been able to so easily see through everything she had done.
Otherwise, how could she have schemed against [The Destruction] Nanook with such methods?
Ron's own power was not that much greater than Nanook's. The fact that he could immediately recognize Herta's immense contribution to his resurrection and gratefully send a blessing clearly meant he had another channel to understand what had transpired during that time...
And the third-person perspective of the Life Simulation Game was the most likely of those channels.
Ron's actions were also very interesting... Even though she had made an unimaginable contribution to his resurrection, Ron, as a god, should never have offered "gratitude" and "thanks" to an Emanator under his command.
Ron was clearly treating her as an equal... but the gap between an Aeon and an Emanator was like an insurmountable chasm. How could they be considered equals?
The only explanation was that Ron had discovered that she, too, was a player of the Life Simulation Game and possessed the same status, which was why he treated her with sufficient respect...
Herta couldn't help but let the corners of her lips curl up slightly. She gently raised her little head, her smooth chin tilting upward, giving off an air of pride.
She let out a light humph and tapped the screen before her with focus.
"I didn't think you'd figure it out so quickly... Oh well. Since you trust me this much, I can't let that trust go to waste."
"The 'Chosen of [Salvation],' huh... sounds pretty good."
The light screen before her skipped past countless lines of text. The grand army marched across thousands of light-years until it came upon the followers of [The Destruction]—a force cobbled together from the defeated remnants of the Annihilation Gang and the Antimatter Legion, who had just begun to regroup from the ruins of their last war...
Herta, calm and composed, began to micromanage. The Salvation Knights and the Galaxy Guardians were organized into detachments, launching an attack on Jepella with maximum speed, before the enemy had a chance to fully recover their strength.
---o---
[You led the Galaxy Guardians and the Salvation Knights in an assault on the Jepella Palace. Once burned to the ground during the Jepella Rebellion and only recently rebuilt by these defeated remnants, the Palace was reduced to a surging particle torrent under the bombardment of Holy Light.]
[Your assault caught the followers of [Destruction] completely off guard. They stared at the sky filled with incandescent white Holy Light, only realizing they were under attack when the flames of war were scorching their faces.]
[For the first time, these villains who once ravaged the Star Ocean got a taste of being attacked without warning... The violence and malice they had inflicted upon others were now visited upon them in full.]
[In the past, they had exterminated civilizations and rampaged across the stars, never showing a shred of mercy for the wails of others, inflicting violence purely for their own greed or for the sake of destruction... And now, you repaid them in their own coin, bringing a destruction of radiant Holy Light down upon their heads.]
[They wailed, they screamed... The villains rediscovered their bloodthirsty instincts amidst the chaos, attempting to take up their weapons once more and bare their fangs at you who dared to launch a surprise attack against them...]
[But before the current Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians, these defeated remnants had no fangs to speak of.]
[All they had... were the rotten yellow teeth in the mouths of decrepit old villains.]
[With such pathetic teeth, how could they possibly take a bite out of your elite forces?]
[They were already fighting back desperately, but under your exquisite command, not only did they fail to gain any advantage, but their reckless advances also allowed you to divide and conquer them. Their barely assembled military force completely collapsed...]
[The fools from the Annihilation Gang blamed each other; the weapons of the Antimatter Legion ran around like headless chickens without a commander. This disorganized mob fell into irresolvable turmoil under your offensive, completely losing their ability to resist.]
[And this was the perfect opportunity.]
[Driven by the extreme tendency of the "Sword of Salvation," the Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians were filled with righteous fury, unanimously agreeing that this scum should be thoroughly purged. You received no objection from the Path of [Salvation]. Ron observed it all, silently permitting everything to happen...]
[You did not hesitate.]
[Scum has its own way of dying... and you didn't mind sending them off with the most violent of means.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new image appeared:
Incandescent white Holy Light began to flash from the muzzles of the fleet's cannons. These weapons were equipped with Imaginary Energy Converters, capable of channeling the Imaginary Energy of Pathstriders to charge the ship's cannons, which could then fire energy blasts corresponding to their Path to deal with different enemies.
These converters were originally standardized equipment sold by the Interastral Peace Corporation for their ships. But in New Belobog, the design had been specially modified into a unique adapter that was only compatible with the power of the [Salvation] Path, but in turn, could convert it into high-intensity Holy Light for firing.
When this adapter was set to maximum power and connected to the energy pipeline of a star-destroying weapon, it would provide the weapon with the most intense Imaginary Energy charge. The energy would undergo unregulated rotational acceleration within the weapon's chamber until the flow reached a velocity that was completely unobservable. Only then could the star-destroying weapon be fired.
Once the weapon was fully charged and fired, it would unleash an accelerated plume of Holy Light radiation to sweep across the entire planet's surface, inflicting destruction at a molecular level on any villain who could not pass the sin-check of the Galaxy Guardians...
And now, the fleet's main flagship floated above the planet. Its massive cannon was fully charged. A vast plume of Holy Light bombarded downward, washing over the entire planet of Jepella...
The brilliant light baptized the world, becoming almost brighter than the star of this system.
Before long, the immense plume of Holy Light gradually ceased, dissipating from the world.
Under the Holy Light, Jepella seemed unchanged. But a rigorous radar scan by the fleet found no signs of intelligent life on the planet.
All intelligent beings upon it had been reduced to cold ash by the heat of the Holy Light. Yet, the buildings and vegetation on Jepella were completely unharmed. The unintelligent have no sin to speak of, so they survived the scorching light. The power of [Salvation] had not touched them in the slightest, but everything else was utterly annihilated... a testament to just how much sin had once stained this planet.
But now, that sin was completely cleansed. The planet was free of its former filth, leaving behind only a world like a blank slate, along with the vast fortune plundered by the Annihilation Gang from across the stars.
The image on the screen faded, and new lines of text appeared—
---o---
[Your Chosen, Herta, followed your will and marched into the depths of the Star Ocean. She returned several months later with a great victory.]
[The planet Jepella underwent a thorough baptism of Holy Light. This act of completely annihilating intelligent life while preserving inorganic matter and non-sentient organisms would surely draw condemnation from many civilizations in the Star Ocean if it became known. They might call it an inhumane war crime, but you secretly called it an efficient military operation.]
[This type of military action received your tacit approval, and this efficient combat method also gained the unanimous support of the Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians—]
[The sinful enemy was cleansed by the Holy Light, but their innocent treasures were left in the hands of the Saviors... With Herta's negotiation skills, the planet Jepella was sold to the Interastral Peace Corporation at a high price. The proceeds were used to purchase a large amount of military equipment for New Belobog, with the remainder distributed as rewards to the valiant soldiers based on their merits.]
[Salvation also requires financial support... You had no objection to Herta's choice, allowing her to manage the army with both rewards and punishments, using wealth and military honor to maintain the army's strongest fighting will.]
[Amber Era 2199, Year 1, Month 12, Day 7: The New Belobog Fleet conquers the remnants of [The Destruction]. A great victory is won, and the enemy is cleansed by Holy Light.]
...
[Amber Era 2199, Year 3, Month 7, Day 8: The New Belobog Fleet campaigns against Qiong-Sang. The initial expedition is unfavorable. Later, with the aid of the Alliance, a great victory is won, and the enemy is cleansed by Holy Light.]
...
[Amber Era 2199, Year 7, Month 1, Day 7: The New Belobog Fleet conquers the remnants of the Dune, the Star-Devouring King. A great victory is won. The Holy Light cleansing proves ineffective. Later, with the aid of the Corporation, the enemy is dealt with via Planetary Devastation.]
...
[Amber Era 2199, Year 24, Month 4, Day 3: The New Belobog Fleet encounters a star-devouring behemoth. It is later determined to be [The Voracity] Ouroboros. The fleet suffers heavy damage and is unable to return. It is later rescued by the Amber Lord and escapes the afflicted star system.]
...
[Amber Era 2201, Year 3, Month 9, Day 1: New Belobog is subject to arbitration by the Emanator known as "the Arbiter." It attempts to purge the [Salvation] forces on New Belobog for the sake of "Equilibrium." At the same time, laughter is heard from the horizon, and a set of scales falls from the sky. [The Equilibrium] HooH is drawn into a protracted battle.]
...
[Amber Era 2203, Year 1, Month 1, Day 1: An illusory web envelops New Belobog.]
[The Harbingers of Doom have sent multiple messages, warning that the end of New Belobog is nigh, and the time is today.]
[[The Finality] Terminus arrives from the end of the River of Time. It has completely broken its shackles on this timeline and extended its hand.]