Su'er was clear - no matter how much Riku resisted his plan or how angry he was, this man would ultimately still be on his side.
It was only because the most fundamental problem in Riku's plan could not be solved... A mortal cannot touch the Suniaster.
Even if the plan was successfully implemented and the entire planet and the Spirit Corridor were pierced to release the Suniaster, so what?
Imanity could not lift that trophy and could not win the real victory.
And Riku's punch just now was just an irrepressible hatred, a hatred for his own incompetence, and a hatred for Su'er for treating his and other people's lives as chess pieces.
But Su'er did not feel any pain.
"Give up on those beautiful fantasies, Riku," Su'er said calmly, standing in front of Riku, "The Old Deus have the power to treat everything in the world as a game, but for us, this is a life-or-death war... Win, and then survive."
"...Just like in your plan, are we going to expand on what we've done before and order more people to die for victory?" Riku slowly raised his head and asked back hoarsely.
"Ah, that's exactly what I'm going to do," Su'er gave an answer without hesitation. He felt that the things named cowardice and hesitation were gradually disappearing from his every cell. He had already made up his mind.
"We don't need to be non-existent ghosts. We don't need to smear black ash on our bodies to guide those powerful races. We won't erase our existence from Imanity. I'm going to lay out what I'm going to do in front of every Imanity and tell them what they are going to die for."
"Imanity will move forward on a sky-piercing tower paved with the flesh and blood of countless heroes who are not afraid of death. Every step will be on the bones of our predecessors. We will no longer deceive ourselves with the false fantasy that the war will end one day. People's sacrifices should be given a substantial reward!" Su'er lowered his voice and roared.
"We will forge everyone's souls into a single entity in this war and create a spirit that belongs to the entire Imanity race. Imanity must have their own weapon, a weapon called an Old Deus! We will snatch victory from the hands of those arrogant fools who don't know how to cherish it, even if we have to make more sacrifices - victory is everything!"
Su'er's chest was rising and falling rapidly. He clenched his fists.
"...Doesn't that make you the same as me?" Riku looked at the excited Su'er blankly and said with a bitter smile, "It's either victory or perish. You are more capricious than anyone else... Sacrifice..."
At the end, Riku also lost himself. He seemed to see people in the future that Su'er had described, dying with passion and hope for the future, one after another.
"Ah, sacrifice," Su'er chanted as if he was hearing this word for the first time, "What a beautiful word. However, every time it appears, it is accompanied by sadness and pain. No matter what the sacrifice is for, if it is not followed by the word 'reward,' then the sadness will become even sadder, and the pain will become even more painful. Sometimes, it will even make the sacrifice too heavy, so heavy that no one can bear it - so heavy that one can only stand up by abandoning it."
"So, sacrifice must have a reward. We must make it valuable. This is exactly what we should do, Riku," Su'er temporarily restrained his overflowing emotions. He half-knelt in front of Riku and said in a deep voice, "Compared to sacrifice, making the sacrifice meaningless is the most hateful thing."
"...Many people will die," Riku said in a low voice.
"More people will die than you can imagine," Su'er had no intention of hiding or deceiving. He laid everything bare in front of Riku, "Except for the embers that will be left, you might become numb from the deaths. You might even start to doubt whether the hope we proclaimed at the beginning still exists."
"There is nothing that people will cherish less than something that is free," Su'er took Riku's hand from his head and wrapped it in his own. He squeezed Riku's rough hand and said in a low voice, "I already know about the things in the settlement. It's really thanks to you all these years..."
"Ah, you already know?" Riku said with a bitter smile, "Couronne must have told you, right? Really... the Imanity's heart is so complicated. I can't see through it at all."
At the end of his words, it was as if all the strength had been drained from Riku's body. He let out a long sigh, a sigh of exhaustion.
After a few years of development, the settlement led by Riku was itself the largest force of Imanity. Now, after gathering many Imanity who had come to them and the natural reproduction of the people in the settlement, the population was close to 150,000. The several backup safe spots that had been surveyed had already been activated as residential areas. And with this rapidly growing population came many different voices, which were even getting louder.
The worry-free life brought by the supplies that the Elves secretly provided and the sense of security of not having to go on expeditions often seemed to have made many people forget what kind of world they were in. What made Su'er even angrier was that there were many people who thought this way.
Following the anger was a deep sense of helplessness. Even in a modern society with a lot of information, the ignorant still made up the majority. How much more so in this primitive world?
Being precocious and smart did not mean that one could do everything. Managing these increasingly numerous compatriots and listening to and satisfying their needs had already made Riku and Couronne physically and mentally exhausted. He was not a person who was good at understanding people's hearts to begin with.
"It'll be okay," Su'er shook Riku's hand hard and said firmly, "I will be the one to declare the new hope to them, the plan to make Imanity great - and only I can do it!"
It was also a plan as absurd as a fantasy, a plan that was conceived by Su'er and then perfected by the God of Doubt and Think.
Before Riku could subconsciously say the words to stop Su'er, Su'er raised his voice and covered them up.
After a long while, Riku finally said hoarsely, word by word, revealing Su'er's future.
"...You will die."
"I will die."
Su'er affirmed without hesitation.
"I will be hated by their children, cursed by future generations, and my statue will stand for a thousand years of infamy... because it must be done," Staring into Riku's eyes, Su'er's words did not contain a hint of confusion or hesitation. "We will gather all our power, and with Imanity's own deity, we will seize the throne of the Only God. We will laugh at the unbelievable expressions on the faces of those arrogant fools at that time."
"...Let's show them. This is our struggle... to live!"
He felt the strength in Riku's hand as he squeezed back. Su'er grinned and laughed with anticipation.