"You're telling me that this relentless cold, this ever-growing rift that's loomed over Belobog like a death sentence for the past seven centuries… all of it is because of something called a 'Stellaron'?"
Dunn's voice trembled slightly as he leaned on his shield, his disbelief as clear as the frost clinging to his armor.
"And your goal is to eliminate this Stellaron, end all the calamities, and—what? Escape this planet while you're at it?"
Gepard picked up where Dunn left off, his tone grim, eyes fixed on the girl before them with guarded suspicion.
"Mhm!"
Felicity nodded brightly, a smile blooming on her face as if she had just revealed the simplest truth in the world.
Gepard furrowed his brow, falling silent. The terms Felicity tossed around so casually felt far too immense for him. He didn't understand any of them—how could he? They were like riddles carved into ice.
But Dunn, as solemn as ever, gave a heavy nod, full of feigned comprehension. Beneath his bucket-shaped helmet, no one could see the confused grimace twisting his lips—but his age and rank made it only natural for him to pretend he understood more than he actually did.
Not that he did. In truth, Dunn hadn't grasped a single word. But the way she spoke, with such otherworldly confidence and mystery… it fit the picture he had of Felicity perfectly.
After a long pause, he finally sighed and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, miss. I can't grant your request. I'm just a soldier. No matter how strange the situation, I must consult the Supreme Guardian before taking any action."
His voice carried a trace of regret—until he added, with an almost too casual tone:
"Buuut… if someone were to sneak into the rift without my notice, well… that's beyond my control."
Gepard's eyes widened.
"You mean—?"
"I'll be on my way then~"
Felicity gave a playful wink and turned around, pleasantly surprised at how easy that was. She had expected all Silvermane Guards to be as rigid as Bronya.
"Ahahaha, what was that? I didn't hear a thing~"
Dunn chuckled heartily, turning away as he thumped Gepard hard on the shoulder.
"Brother Gepard, our patrol isn't quite finished. Let's check the other side."
"Wait… huh?"
Gepard tensed, clearly uneasy. He turned instinctively in Felicity's direction—but she was already gone, swallowed up by the snow and distance.
"Senior Dunn… aren't we violating military orders?"
His voice was tight with conflict. He had long accepted his role as Belobog's shield, and until now, he had never disobeyed a single command.
Dunn didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stared off into the snowy horizon where Felicity had vanished, the silence lingering like frost in the air. After a long pause, he turned back to Gepard and asked in a low, composed voice:
"Then tell me, Gepard. What is it that we're supposed to protect?"
"The people of Belobog."
Gepard answered without the slightest hesitation, his voice unwavering.
"I swore my oath before Qlipoth. I will protect Belobog's citizens—even if it costs me my life."
Dunn gave a slow nod, his expression unreadable beneath the helmet.
"And has that girl ever harmed a single civilian?"
Gepard fell quiet. After a moment, he shook his head.
"Then… do you think we can stop her with just the two of us?"
"…We can't."
"Exactly."
Dunn's voice turned heavy, as though he were lifting a weight that had rested on his chest for too long.
"She's never raised her hand against our people. She's even saved the lives of Silvermane Guards. Now, she walks alone into the desolate Everwinter Hill… and we're supposed to point our weapons at her because of some baseless accusation about 'plotting to subvert the Architects' and sabotaging Belobog'?"
He sighed deeply and glanced back at the city shrouded in eternal frost.
"…Do you remember? That was the same charge they used when they dismissed Oleg."
Gepard had no reply. He simply lowered his eyes.
On the other side—
Felicity moved through the snow, her boots pressing shallow marks into the frozen ground. The cold wind bit at her face, but she paid it no mind. Her long platinum hair fluttered wildly behind her, untouched by the falling snow—as though even nature refused to mar her presence.
Her gaze swept the ruins ahead—fragments of twisted iron, broken stone, shattered stairs winding like the spine of a corpse toward the heavens. The landscape was a battlefield frozen in time.
Countless human-shaped ice sculptures stood in silent postures. Most still bore the expressions they had in life—fear, determination, agony. As if trapped in amber, they would remain here forever… untouched, unseen.
It was a chilling spectacle.
Felicity let out a quiet breath. She walked forward, feeling the trace of life energy mixed with the cold. The wind carried it—residual, but dense. The Stellaron had sensed her again.
It stirred.
The entity, once dormant, now began drawing in life energy with renewed hunger.
That's fine, she thought. Let it feed.
Before long, she arrived at the summit—a broad, open platform nestled on the peak of the mountain, weighed down by layers of snow and the pressure of something unseen. Before her stood a strange, crumbling structure that somehow defied gravity, suspended in mid-air.
At its heart floated a radiant core of golden light, flickering and pulsing like a heartbeat—an unnatural rhythm in sync with the energy around it.
The Stellaron.
A faint, delighted smile played on her lips.
[A creature of Abundance.]
A voice rasped in her mind like wind scraping across steel. It was distorted, neither male nor female, more static than speech—but its disdain was unmistakable.
Felicity's expression darkened.
Feeding it her life energy should have earned at least some respect. Yet here it was, mocking her. She clicked her tongue, annoyed.
"…"
She didn't strike. Instead, she calmly examined the Stellaron's condition, gauging its power. It still wasn't strong enough to kill her—not yet.
Then she would wait. Let it continue drawing in energy.
But the Stellaron seemed far more impatient than she expected.
Its glow intensified. Its hunger grew. The surrounding life energy churned in a frenzy.
[The birth of the universe is a mistake. Civilization—a cancer born among the stars.]
The ground beneath her began to tremble.
Snow and ash erupted from the floor as something massive moved beneath her.
A colossal steel arm burst through the snow, grasping the ground like a beast hauling itself from the abyss.
[Everything… to the Aeon of Destruction!]
The snow-covered steel plates cracked apart as a gigantic mechanical figure rose. Towering above the mountain itself, the machine's red eye lit up like a furnace.
[Burn. Fuse. Annihilate.]
The Stellaron's voice surged, full of power and fervor. With the life energy of this planet, and the aid of the "Engine of Creation" once guarded by the Supreme Guardian, it felt invincible.
It had no doubt.
Even an Emanator… it could challenge them now.
The Stellaron roared in pride, casting its judgment down upon the world.
--+--
T/N: Bro might be tripping.