Chapter 177: The End of the World
Another period of time passed.
The Dragon attacks ceased.
The children learned from the news that the Goddess had fought the Dragon Race and repelled them. The governments of various nations publicly praised the Goddess's achievements, and no one dared to point fingers anymore.
However, the world was not saved because of this.
Anomalies occurred all over the globe—the earth fractured, the oceans dried up, and the sky lost its blue tint, looking precisely like the end of days.
No, this was the end of the world.
President Dustin announced at a press conference that the Dragon Race had vanished, seemingly having flown into the deep recesses of outer space. At the same time, he made the truth public: both the reason behind the Dragon Race's assault on humanity and the current state of the planet on the brink of collapse. It was all because humanity had abused MA Energy, draining the planet's life-force and driving it to depletion.
Humanity could not accept their own stupidity, and the venue instantly erupted into a storm of curses, devolving into a full-blown riot. The President was forced to exit under the protection of his guards.
Humans would rather die than admit the truth Dustin spoke. Too many humans had enjoyed the benefits of MA Energy; even in nations where its use was banned, people smuggled and sold it in secret. Clearly, it was a disaster brought upon humanity by their own hands, yet practically no one was willing to admit it.
Public opinion in various nations either blasted Dustin for talking complete nonsense, blamed other countries for being awful, or claimed it was entirely the Dragon Race's fault. While the world was busy playing ostrich and deflecting responsibility, the world was marching toward its doom every single second.
Subsequently, humans who felt the world was about to end naturally began to run amok. Public security deteriorated by the day, and the world fell into a state of absolute lawlessness; even the police joined the riots.
The area surrounding the orphanage was not peaceful either. Whenever humans encountered disaster, they always wanted to vent their anger and pin the blame on someone's head. Ariel and the others became the perfect targets.
"It's all those fellows' fault. If it weren't for them..."
They didn't need any logical justification; simply because someone was different from them, they could use that to legitimize their own violence.
Fortunately, no massive mobs materialized to launch a coordinated assault. However, people frequently threw stones or fired guns at them. The reason they didn't launch a full-scale assault on them was partly due to ordinary people feeling a trace of fear toward chimeras, and partly due to the presence of Goddess Sariel.
It was common knowledge that Sariel had repelled the Dragon Race. The surrounding residents all knew this place was run by the Goddess, and passersby who sincerely thanked the Goddess for her kindness wouldn't make a move against them. Yet, people still fired guns. One could only say the world wasn't entirely filled with good people. Humanity simply never thanked logic.
At this critical juncture, the normally reliable Gulie had vanished to god-knows-where ever since learning that Sariel had repelled the Dragon Race. Skipping town at the most crucial moment—Ariel was incredibly furious back then.
Only later did she find out that Gulie was desperately trying to find a way to save the Goddess at that time. Ariel lamented that there were far too many things she only found out long after the fact. The her of that time was so weak and ignorant, capable of being nothing but a burden.
Since Gulie couldn't be counted on, the children could only defend against external threats on their own. When they truly couldn't hold out any longer, they decided to fight their way out. Not to repel humanity, but planning to make an escape.
The vast majority of the chimeras' physical capabilities were highly reliable. Even if the opposing armed forces were decent, they could still break through from the front. They even had a large tour bus for the breakthrough. It had been driven back by a certain companion on the outside after the Dragon attacks occurred.
Ariel had initially complained about him, wondering what the hell he was doing driving such a massive thing back. Looking back now, she felt deeply ashamed; the guy had possessed absolute foresight.
Under a tense atmosphere that was right on the verge of exploding, a few more days passed.
One of their companions—a boy whose level of poor health was second only to Ariel's—suddenly spoke up, proposing that they all go see Lord Sariel together. Because of constitutional issues, the boy was entirely unable to sleep, always sporting a pair of panda eyes. Furthermore, his brain secreted a special compound that made it impossible for him to settle down unless he was constantly doing something.
Even though he clearly didn't want to do anything, his body conversely demanded that he work non-stop. The boy later became the First-Generation Ruler of Sloth, single-handedly grinding out the largest labyrinth in the world through sheer effort.
For a guy who usually stayed indoors all day, this was the very first time he spoke of going out. The boy, who always had a pair of dead-fish eyes, had them sparkling with light at this exact moment, and everyone was completely overwhelmed by his momentum.
The children decided to drive out immediately, listening to his explanation on the way.
In truth, there wasn't any complex explanation. To put it simply, Lord Sariel intended to sacrifice herself to save the current crisis.
The specific details didn't matter to the children at all. They only cared about the fact that the Goddess was going to sacrifice herself.
On the bus, everyone chipped in, with some saying they had to stop Lord Sariel, while others felt it was a decision made by an adult and they had no right to stop her.
At that time, Ariel thought that she wouldn't live long anyway, but what about her other companions? If possible, she naturally hoped they could live on. And Lord Sariel was bound to think the exact same way. Therefore, she felt they shouldn't stop her.
Yet she conversely couldn't tolerate Lord Sariel sacrificing herself. In truth, everyone felt the same way, and arguing for half the day yielded zero conclusion.
Right at that moment, the matron gave a sharp roar, "You bratty kids, stop acting so spineless over there! No matter how much you clamor, the one making the final decision is still Lord Sariel herself! If you have something to say, rush straight to the person herself!"
Indeed. They were merely powerless children; clamoring didn't do a damn thing.
The interior of the bus instantly turned dead silent, though before long, they couldn't help but start whispering among themselves again. As for the specifics of what they chatted about, Ariel could no longer remember. Her mind was in an absolute mess at the time. The only thing she remembered was that she had to see Lord Sariel and give her the finished handkerchief.
Ariel had finally finished making all the handkerchiefs. She had a premonition that if she didn't give it now, she would never have the chance again. As it turned out, her premonition was correct.
Ultimately, they arrived at the presidential palace of the nation where the destination was located.
For some unknown reason, the heavily guarded area where ordinary people were forbidden from entering let the children pass through with ease. Regardless, the children met the Goddess as they wished.
Reunited after a long separation, Sariel's very first words were to ask if everyone was doing well. She didn't even know how worried the children had been; she truly was a dense Goddess.
Afterward, within the permitted time, the children talked to Sariel to their heart's content, doing everything in their power to persuade her to change her mind. Yet Sariel's resolve was rock-solid. No matter how they pleaded, she still returned to that same line: "This is my mission."
The children had no way of dealing with her either, and the conversation naturally shifted to reminiscing about the past.
Back when they had just been taken under her shelter, on nights when they couldn't sleep, everyone would lean on one another, letting Sariel read storybooks to them.
A child who had been left traumatized by the experiments started trembling uncontrollably upon recalling the scenes of the past, and the Goddess gently embraced the child until they calmed down.
They couldn't go to school, so the Goddess personally taught them classes.
One child was a picky eater, so the Goddess forcibly stuffed the food he disliked right into his mouth, making him hate the stuff even more afterward.
When flipping skirts became a trend among the boys, the Goddess confiscated all of their trousers, leaving them with nothing but a single pair of shorts. Afterward, they thoroughly turned over a new leaf, never flipping anyone else's skirts again.
When the children were about to enter puberty, the Goddess, under the guise of teaching a health class, made them watch adult videos and even calmly explained the content with a straight face. It gave the matron such a scare she rushed into the classroom, and the Goddess ended up being severely lectured by the matron.
None of the children knew their own birthdays, so they took the opening date of the orphanage as everyone's birthday. On that day, everyone would celebrate properly together, and the Goddess would distribute gifts to each child.
There were also perplexities regarding romance; the children would seek someone out to discuss strategies, except they went to discuss it with the matron—this Goddess was simply unreliable. Then, because everyone didn't consult her, the Goddess put on a thoroughly disappointed expression.
Beautiful memories, embarrassing memories, and bitter memories. No matter the topic, it simply felt endless.
Sariel's figure was present throughout their entire lives; she was the one who rescued the children, changing them back from experimental animals into human beings. Recounting their memories with the Goddess was equivalent to recounting the entire lives of everyone present.
And then time was up; the moment of parting had arrived.
At this final opportunity, Ariel pulled out the finished handkerchief and handed it to the Goddess, subsequently distributing the handkerchiefs to her companions. Every member of the orphanage held the exact same handkerchief. Ariel wanted to use this to express to Lord Sariel that we will always be with you.
If only it could be conveyed. Ariel didn't know whether it had been conveyed or not. Lord Sariel was simply that disastrously incompetent when it came to reading the human heart.
However, her love for the children was indeed conveyed to the very end.
Sariel wished for everyone to live happily and peacefully.
But... unfortunately, truth is.
Without the Goddess around, can we truly be happy?
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