"The ground is shaking... What's happening?"
Everyone braced themselves, but panic and unease were unavoidable.
"The fate of Belobog is sealed. Its future will be decided by our hands."
"You shall become the foundation of this new world."
Cocolia stood with her eyes closed, an icy aura radiating from her body. Suspended in midair, currents of wind swirled around her.
She extended her palm.
"One cannot create the new without first destroying the old."
An ice spear materialized in her grasp.
Raising it high, she shouted with unwavering authority:
"As the Supreme Guardian, I command you to rise—"
"Creation Engine!"
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted.
A colossal mechanical hand emerged from behind Cocolia, each finger towering several times the height of a human.
The massive hand descended, aiming straight for March 7th and the others.
"Through ice and snow, my will has been tempered—unyielding and eternal!"
A powerful, resolute voice rang out.
At that moment, an ice shield formed—a towering, unshakable wall standing in defiance of the Creation Engine's crushing blow.
"Gepard!"
Serval's voice trembled with surprise.
It was Gepard.
"Why are you here?"
The commotion had been impossible to ignore. He had arrived, quickly assessing the situation.
The truth was undeniable—the Supreme Guardian had forsaken her duty to preserve.
"Sister, now isn't the time for discussion."
Gepard stepped forward, shield raised, his stance unwavering.
Boom!
The colossal hand slammed into the earth, sending tremors through the battlefield.
Then, pressing against the ground, the Creation Engine's full form began to rise.
March 7th gasped in shock.
"That thing is ten thousand times bigger than a Svarog!"
Meanwhile, in the live broadcast chat room, countless viewers watched in awe as the towering machine emerged.
Tushan Honghong:"Whoa! What a gigantic monster!"
Lemuel:"That's a serious machine—thousands of times larger than a medical bot!"
Suzuki:"Damn! With weapons like this, how did this planet fall into such ruin?"
Nanashi:"If I remember correctly, this thing wasn't originally a weapon. It was a machine meant for geological transformation."
Nanashi:"The Antimatter Legion is insanely strong. The Doomsday Beast I fought last time was one of their war machines."
Nanashi:"Jarilo-VI was first ravaged by the Antimatter Legion, then ensnared by the Star Core. This planet has suffered nothing but disaster."
Suzuki:"Ugh… If only our world had those terraforming machines. It's polluted and suffocating every day… who knows how long we have left? Sigh."
Nami:"Nanashi, are you not going to step in? Can they really handle that thing?"
On the battlefield, the Creation Engine pounded the earth, sending shockwaves as everyone frantically dodged.
Nanashi:"Relax. Isn't Silver Wolf there? She can handle it, right?"
Silver Wolf smirked. "Hmph. You got that right. I'm already on it."
With a few keystrokes on her virtual console—
"Shut down."
Boom!
The glow in the Creation Engine's core flickered out. Its enormous arms fell lifelessly to the ground.
"Yes! It stopped! Silver Wolf, you're amazing!"
March 7th leaped in excitement.
Just then, a familiar voice crackled over a comm channel of March 7th.
"Silver Wolf? A Star Core Hunter? What is she doing on Jarilo-VI?"
Nanashi and the others recognized the voice instantly.
March 7th's eyes lit up. "Himeko!"
"It's me. Welt and I detected a massive machine activating on Jarilo-VI. We were about to fire the railgun to assist, but it suddenly stopped. Was that the Star Core Hunter's doing?"
"Yes."
Dan Heng confirmed without hesitation.
"Strange... What is a Star Core Hunter doing here?"
"Well... She's also a friend. She came with Nanashi and the others."
"Oh? The traveler from another world? That explains it."
"March 7th, Stelle, Dan Heng—keep going. Your pioneer journey isn't over yet."
"Got it!"
Back on the battlefield, Cocolia stood frozen in disbelief.
"Creation Engine..."
She couldn't comprehend why it had stopped functioning.
"I can hack into the system to deal with the machine, but I won't be able to take control of it in such a short time."
Silver Wolf sighed in disappointment—she had really wanted to try her hand at controlling that behemoth.
A flicker of blue light flashed in Cocolia's eyes, and the chilling aura around her grew even colder.
"His power... it surges... it sings..."
"The promise He gave me is the only hope for this world."
"Seven hundred years ago, His power drove the Antimatter Legion away. Today, it will wipe you out as well!"
"Humans are weak. Allow me to grant you despair!"
As she spoke, Cocolia's entire body began to change.
Her skin became covered in an abyssal blue substance.
Before everyone's eyes, she transformed into a towering monstrosity, several ice spear-like objects floating ominously behind her.
"Tch. Even in this state, can you still grant her strength?"
Nanashi patted the half-devoured Star Core beneath him.
"You're surprisingly dedicated."
The Star Core flickered wildly.
It only wanted Cocolia to accept its power—eliminate the others as quickly as possible and drive this man away.
Otherwise… it would be devoured entirely!
"Mother!"
Bronya stood frozen, her body trembling.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"That's not your mother anymore. She's nothing more than a world-ripping monster wearing human skin." Silver Wolf reminded her coldly.
"Who cares! I'm going to break that ugly shell!"
Seele's voice was filled with fury.
Her rage reached its peak.
If not for this woman—
The Underworld wouldn't have fallen into darkness and chaos.
She just wanted to take this monster down!
"Fade away with the butterflies, phantoms of the past!"
Seele's figure became a blur, flashing forward like a spectral blue-purple butterfly, a harbinger of destruction hurtling toward Cocolia.
"Insect! Be crushed by His power!"
"Tch—!"
Every instinct in Seele's body screamed.
Her hair stood on end.
A colossal threat was descending!
Cocolia swung her arms wide—
A dense barrage of gigantic icicles rained down like a meteor storm.
"Damn…!"
Seele's pupils shrank.
An attack of this scale—there was nowhere to run!
Bronya and Seele were completely enveloped in the ice storm.
"Bronya! Get out of there!"
Serval shouted desperately, watching Bronya stand motionless in shock.
She couldn't believe it.
The Cocolia she had known…
Would she really be so ruthless as to kill her own daughter?!
"SEELE!"
Natasha called out as well, her voice hoarse as she fired her gun.
At the same time, Svarog launched a barrage of artillery.
Boom!
Explosions tore through the frozen rain—
But they couldn't even scratch the descending ice spears.
"Watch out!" Clara cried.
Cocolia—now the Mother of Illusions—unleashed an unending storm of ice toward Seele and Bronya.
The nearest Stelle instinctively rushed to shield Bronya, bracing for impact.
Crack!
Just as the ice spears were about to pierce through—
They shattered.
Without warning, the frozen projectiles were swept away by a violent hurricane.
A voice rang out at last.
"You're getting desperate, Star Core."
Nanashi's voice echoed across the battlefield.
"You! He ordered me to destroy you!"
Cocolia's gaze locked onto Nanashi, who hovered above the Star Core.
Her voice was filled with hatred and exhaustion.
"Saved…? I thought I was dead..."
Seele, barely escaping death, turned to Nanashi.
Her crystal-clear eyes held disbelief.
That man had saved her.
"Star Core…"
Nanashi was about to mock the entity—
But then—
Everything around him changed.
Cocolia was gone.
Clara, who had been in his arms, was gone.
"Huh?"
Stelle opened her eyes, looking down at herself.
She wasn't injured…
But—
The battlefield had vanished.
The world around her had transformed into an endless starry sky—
The same starry expanse she had seen when she encountered the Star God of Destruction.
"What is this place?"
A voice suddenly spoke.
Stelle turned and saw Nanashi.
"Why are you here too?"
Nanashi shook his head.
"I have no idea."
Stelle hesitated, then recalled the moment when the ice spears shattered.
"Did you… save me?"
Nanashi shrugged. "It was convenient. Let's move forward and take a look."
Without waiting for an answer, he casually took Stelle's hand and led her toward the light in the distance.
"H-Hmm…"
Stelle's cheeks flushed red as she was pulled along—
Toward the golden light.
In the void, illusions flickered into existence.
Visions of Jarilo-VI.
Images of Cocolia and the Star Core.
They witnessed the invasion of the Antimatter Legion 700 years ago.
Saw the Supreme Guardian of that era make a wish upon the Star Core.
Saw the cold wave bury the Antimatter army—
And in doing so, seal the planet's future in ice.
They saw Cocolia, trapped in despair.
They saw her fall to the whispers of the Star Core.
They saw the moment she, too, made her wish.
Everything lay before them.
Even though he had already known the truth, Nanashi still felt a twinge of emotion.
Everyone understood that what Cocolia had done was wrong.
But at the same time, he knew that very few could have stood in her place—
Few could have gazed upon the despair of a hopeless future, endured the whispers of the Star Core invading their thoughts every second, and remained unaffected.
Most of the people of Jarilo-VI were ordinary, their powers insignificant.
There were Destinywalkers, but none powerful enough.
Even Cocolia, the Supreme Guardian, had only been a person—one with a sliver of strength, but still just a person.
At last, the two reached the end of their path.
A lone figure stood before the light.
"Who are you?" Stelle asked, puzzled.
"He's the collective will of all the Supreme Guardians who came before," Nanashi said nonchalantly.
The figure regarded them in silence.
[Powerful outsider… have you come to save Jarilo-VI?]
Nanashi merely shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.
His gaze, however, carried a deep, unspoken sorrow.
[The city weeps… the power of protection fades.]
[In the end… we were never strong enough to resist the will of the Star Core.]
Stelle took in everything she had seen.
Her thoughts crystallized.
"Cocolia was the one who abandoned her duty to protect this world."
[That's right… but we have no right to condemn her.]
[For seven hundred years, the Rift has expanded, growing larger every second. What we left for our successors was not faith, nor wealth—only an endless abyss of despair.]
[To watch, powerless, as the home you swore to protect crumbles before your eyes… It is torment beyond words. And when the whispers gnaw at your mind without end—]
[No matter how strong your will, it is bound to waver. This day was inevitable. His protection… was always destined to leave us.]
There was no resentment in his words.
No hatred toward Cocolia's choice.
Because it was they—their generation—who had left her to face this endless despair.
What saddened them was not betrayal.
It was the inescapable fate that all protectors would one day fall—
And that the world would, inevitably, come to ruin.
Nanashi said nothing.
He only watched—waiting to see what choice Stelle would make.
She hesitated.
She had seen this world's despair.
She wanted to save it.
But—
She wasn't like Nanashi.
She didn't have his strength.
"Do whatever you want to do."
Nanashi's voice was calm.
"I'm standing behind you. So don't worry."
His words shattered the last traces of hesitation within her.
Stelle felt the warmth of his hand, the quiet strength that flowed through his grip.
Her once-clouded eyes grew clear.
Her resolve—solid.
She voiced her decision.
"Then let someone else handle it!"
The figure before her regarded her with a complicated gaze.
[You…]
[A mere traveler… yet you choose to shoulder the fate of a world that is not your own.]
[Very well. If nothing remains… then what do I have to lose?]
[Touch the Amber Light, Trailblazer. See if your will is strong enough… strong enough to draw His gaze.]
Between spirals of deep blue and flashes of red and gold, an amber spear floated in the void.
Stelle turned to Nanashi.
He simply nodded. "Go ahead."
Releasing her hand, he crossed his arms over his chest, offering an encouraging smile.
He had no interest in the power of the stars.
This was her moment.
"Mm!"
Stelle stepped forward.
She reached for the Amber Spear's hilt.
—!!!
Flames erupted from the spear, forcing her to recoil.
Pain flared across her palm—
But she did not hesitate.
Steeling herself, she reached out once more, her fingers closing around the burning weapon.
The Amber Spear stood unmoving in the void.
Stelle gritted her teeth.
She focused every ounce of strength she had—
And pulled.
Fire surged outward, filling the endless expanse.
As the Star's power grew—
As its will solidified—
Crack!
A fracture formed at the tip of the spear, splitting through space itself.
[She… she really succeeded…]
The murmured voice of the Supreme Guardian's will drifted through the void.
"Ha—!"
With one final burst of strength—
The void shattered.
And the Amber Spear was in her grasp.
She raised it high.
Flames roared to life, reaching toward the heavens.
"Is that the Guardian Star God… Qlipoth?"
The one who built the Sky-Comet Wall.
The Sub-Space Crystal Wall.
The Giant Source Foundation.
His followers called him the Amber King.
And in that moment—
Nanashi saw him.
A colossal form, a titan of amber standing in the boundless void of the universe.
His gaze—vast and immeasurable—
Fixed itself upon a single, tiny star.
He raised his great hammer.
And brought it down upon the endless cosmos.
Clang!
The sound of the Amber King's hammerfall resounded across the universe.
The old Amber Age had ended.
And a new era had begun.