Chapter three Part Four
Humanity's emotions snapped.
From hell…
to heaven…
and back again.
Some screamed with joy.
"We're protected!"
Some fell into worship.
"Our gods are real!"
Some trembled in terror.
"If they were here all along…"
"…why didn't they save us before?"
And some stared upward with the cold realization:
Protection did not mean peace.
It meant Earth was part of something far larger.
Something ancient.
Something warlike.
Something that had been hidden behind stories.
Zheng Wen Te, shaking on the floor, could barely breathe.
For the first time in five years…
he felt something other than emptiness.
Not hope.
Not peace.
But awe.
And terror.
Because Earth was not free.
Earth had been protected…
like a cage is protected.
The Earth's Protector Speaks
And then…
one figure moved forward.
An old man.
Simple.
Barefoot.
Yet the moment he appeared, even the giants above seemed smaller.
His gaze rose toward the tear.
Toward the Creator.
His voice was calm…
but it carried the weight of an entire world.
"This planet…"
"…is under our protection."
Silence struck the universe.
The Creator's presence pressed down like a mountain.
But the old man did not bend.
He lifted his chin slightly, eyes sharp as blades.
"Who are you…"
"…to dictate Earth's trajectory?"
His voice hardened.
"Begone."
A pause.
Then, quietly:
"Or I will drag your soul…"
"…into the hell you pretend not to fear."
Above the world…
the giants did not move.
The tear in the heavens trembled.
And for the first time since the voice appeared…
the Creator did not speak.
Because Earth…
was not as defenseless…
as it had claimed.