"To witness such methods, Mr. Takatsuki truly lives up to his origins from the ancient and mysterious Divine Land."
A refined voice came from the doorway, and the children who had been gathered at the entrance quickly backed away from the person who had suddenly appeared beside them.
Takatsuki did not give him a good look, seeing the white smiling mask on his face.
"Why aren't you doing your own business? What are you doing here?"
Takatsuki looked at the white briefcase in his hand and said, "Hiruko Kagetane."
"I'm just curious about what Mr. Takatsuki is doing."
"Curious?"
Seemingly oblivious to Takatsuki's displeasure, Hiruko Kagetane walked into the laboratory.
"You clearly possess the power to dominate the world directly, so why do you choose to do these things?"
"Dominate the world? Heh..."
Takatsuki merely chuckled at Hiruko Kagetane's words: "What's the point of dominating? Not to mention the whole world, even just carving out a territory, there would be countless scoundrels beneath. Let alone the entire world. I can control the thoughts of ten people, a hundred people, but can I control billions of people worldwide?"
"If you don't have such ambitions, why do you gather these Cursed Children, Mr. Takatsuki? Isn't it because of the power they possess?"
Through the holes in his mask, Hiruko Kagetane's gaze was fixed on Takatsuki: "If it's just so-called kindness, then there are so many suffering people in the world, why don't you care about them?"
Justice? Or hypocrisy? Let me see your answer.
Hiruko Kagetane felt that the person in front of him was different from Rentaro, whom he had encountered.
The latter's hypocrisy was merely verbal; he wouldn't take much actual action, and even if he did, he wouldn't pursue it deeply or for long, merely resolving the issues directly in front of him.
But the person in front of him, his execution power was arguably the most exaggerated Hiruko Kagetane had ever seen. Although this was predicated on his immense power, the other party truly accomplished those things. However, Hiruko Kagetane could not understand the reason for his actions.
To rescue the Cursed Children?
It certainly wasn't such a simple reason; otherwise, there were so many ordinary people suffering, why didn't he rescue them?
Either it was for the power of the Cursed Children, or he had a greater scheme.
Hiruko Kagetane felt that his current actions perfectly aligned with this saying from the Divine Land. He didn't care about his own life; instead, he developed an intense interest in Takatsuki's motives.
"Heh, those guys, huh."
Takatsuki chuckled, not giving a direct answer, but glanced at the children gathered in the corridor outside. It seemed their conversation had attracted the children's attention. Takatsuki had no intention of driving them away; instead, he turned to Hiruko Kagetane.
"I have a friend. From the moment she was born, she was burdened with the sin of killing tens of millions of people."
Cursed Children?
Hiruko Kagetane thought this, because some people attributed the Gastrea's killings to the Cursed Children, which is why these children were treated this way.
"She is different from these children. In her previous life, she truly killed tens of millions of people. After someone reawakened her, she lost this memory and grew up as an ordinary girl. But this matter was not unknown; history is not forgotten, merely hidden, and one day it will be revealed to the world again."
"And when that day came, she broke down."
"She couldn't accept that she was the one who truly caused her mother's death, nor could she accept that it was because of her that her father lost an arm, nor could she accept that she was the very person in the historical records she had read, who had caused such a great tragedy."
"Her past memories within her revived, giving birth to another personality, which once again began a massacre, killing countless people, even personally killing her own mentor. However, through her mentor's efforts, she regained control of her body, but the other personality constantly tried to control her again to seek revenge on this world."
"To avoid harming others, she ran away from home, wandered, and sank into despair, but eventually, she walked her own path."
"For those she loved, for the innocent people of the world, she embarked on a journey to save the world."
"One thing she said, I think is very true. Although the circumstances are different, it also applies to these children."
At this point, Takatsuki paused and slowly said: "I cannot choose my destiny, but I can choose what kind of person to become."
"These children, from birth, were abandoned. But was this their choice? No, it wasn't."
Takatsuki looked at the children at the door and shook his head slightly: "Just like my friend, they cannot choose their birth, nor can they choose their destiny. My friend even wished she had never been born into this world, so that so many tragedies wouldn't have arisen because of her."
"But this is also something she cannot change."
"Time cannot turn back; what has happened has happened and cannot be changed, but..."
"How to act can be chosen by oneself, and the future can also be created by oneself. In fact, she could have lived a carefree life, but she still chose to embark on a path destined to be the most difficult."
These words were both an answer to Hiruko Kagetane and addressed to the increasingly numerous children gathered at the door.
"Children, you cannot choose your birth. In the past, merely living consumed all your strength. What I can give you is not a pre-laid path, but an opportunity."
"An opportunity to choose. You can choose to live as ordinary children. Some things, even if you don't do them, others will. But if you want to change how the world sees you, if you want all of humanity to no longer be threatened by Gastrea and thus save this world, I believe that even in this era, there are beautiful things in this world, and I, we, are fighting to protect those beautiful things."
"Although this path is winding and almost impassable, at its end, there is indeed light."
As Takatsuki's words fell, a burst of enthusiastic cheers immediately erupted. The children who had been gathered at the door swarmed into the laboratory.
Fortunately, Mobius wasn't here right now, otherwise she would probably throw a huge tantrum.
"Takatsuki! We also want to fight for the good in the world!"
This slogan, set by Otto, also shone brightly in this world.
Although Otto himself was quite inhumane, it must be said that precisely because of this, he understood how to attract others.
Just as he cultivated the upright Durandal.
"Fighting for the good in the world, huh..."
Looking at Takatsuki, surrounded by the children, Hiruko Kagetane pressed down on the red hat on his head: "Indeed, a different ideal."
Leaving the room without a sound, Hiruko Kagetane found his daughter, Hiruko Kohina.
"Dad! This place is so fun! Can we come again!?"
Hiruko Kohina, whose expression was somewhat manic but who was very obedient to Hiruko Kagetane, immediately dropped her opponent and ran over upon hearing Hiruko Kagetane's voice.
"Yes, we can. Once we finish our work, we can come back. Kohina, do you like it here?"
"Mm! I love it the most! There are so many opponents to cut down here!"
Due to Hiruko Kagetane's upbringing, Hiruko Kohina, though very obedient to him, yearned for battle above all else.
"That's good. Thank you, Ms. Okita Souji."
The cherry-haired girl standing in the middle of the training ground was sheathing her sword. Hearing Hiruko Kagetane's thanks, she nodded: "It was nothing. But this child, Lord Hiruko, did you intentionally raise her this way?"
Although it was a question, Okita Souji used a declarative sentence, and the answer she received was, naturally, affirmative.
"While I have no intention of evaluating Lord Hiruko's educational methods, I hope Lord Hiruko will keep it in mind."
"Thank you for the reminder, Ms. Okita Souji, but you can rest assured."
How could he rest assured? He didn't say, merely carrying his briefcase and holding Hiruko Kohina's hand as he walked outside.
Watching Okita Souji, who was seeing him off, and the historical heroes he'd heard of frequently passing by, Hiruko Kagetane's face under his mask gradually broke into a smile.
"Stage Five cannot be defeated by just these few. Perhaps, I might have the honor of witnessing Takatsuki's strength."